Konoha High Boarding School
by MorwenKazul
Summary: It focuses on an American OC who goes to Konoha to improve her Japanese. GaaraxOC SakuxSasu NaruxHina ShikaxIno NejixTen Rating may change.
1. First Day of School

**Hey everybody, this is my first story in a long while, so I just want to explain some things. I ship GaaraxMatsuri. In fact it's my OTP, but I felt Matsuri would be too shy of a character to use in the plot, so I made an OC for Gaara. Also I ship ShikaxTema, but just like the OC, I felt Ino would be better for the story and I didn't want to work in another guy for her like Chouji, who by the way I think she would do really paired with, or Sai. Anyway... Enjoy.**_  
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_What am I doing here? Why am I in Japan? What am I, crazy? I can barely speak Japanese. I should have just stayed back in the states like a sane person. Well, of all of the things I think about myself, I'm surest of the fact that I am not sane._ The girl sighed and walked into her first class of the day, Calculus.

"Morning Class. We've got a new student today," said a silver haired teacher with a mask over his mouth in a bored tone. "She just transferred from America. Would you like to introduce yourself?"

She looked startled. "Hajimemashte. My name's Sophia." She did an awkward half-wave, not really sure how to behave.

As if answering her silent question, Kakashi said, "Sit in the empty seat next to Gaara, the red-haired boy." She sat down, getting out her materials. She was disappointed to learn that she'd already covered all of the material he introduced that class. Kakashi-sensei had left some time at the end for them to work on their homework, and for him to read Icha-Icha Paradise.

Sophia had finished all the problems in 10 minutes, most of the trouble was deciphering the word problems. Then she just stared around the room, observing all of her new classmates. At the far end of the class, there was a group of girls who were whispering avidly, clearly not worried at all, though judging by their faces during Kakashi-sensei's explanation, they hadn't understood it. Then there were several guys who were concentrating fiercely on their work, as though if they looked away, even blinked, all the problems on the page would run away. _Well at least they look like they care._ After them there was a smattering of people who were working on their problems, steadily. _Well this is much more productive than in-school working time back in the states. _Lastly her attention turned to the red-headed boy she was sitting next to.

He was frowning slightly, and did some scratch work in a corner of his paper, finally scribbling down an answer on his sheet. She was pleased to see it was correct as were all of the others on his paper. She smiled to herself and stared out the window, watching the wind shake the branches of the tree.

The bell rang and she grabbed her bag to go to her next class, Chemistry. They were studying equilibrium concepts. With all the new vocabulary she had to relearn in Japanese, she was quite occupied. When she finished looking up all the words in her pocket dictionary, she understood what Kurenai-sensei had been saying and sighed, looking at her worksheet. _It's a good thing there wasn't a lab today. I don't want to look like a dunce in front of everyone because I'll be triple-checking the directions to make sure I read them right._ Then she looked at the people sitting at her table, four girls. She had only just learned their names and was not so good at remembering, but the blonde girl was Ino, the pink-haired one was Sakura, the brunette with the buns was Tenten, and the shy one with the sleek black hair and lavender eyes was Hinata. They seemed nice enough, and at least they didn't stare at her like the rest of the class had when she introduced herself. She went back to her work, less apprehensive than she had been at the start of the day. By the time the bell rang, she had finished half of her chemistry homework.

She stared at her schedule. _Just one more class then Lunch. That's good because I'm starving._ And with those thoughts she headed off to Japanese. Itachi-sensei taught the class, and that day, they were reading the poetry of Bashō. _Arigatou gozaimasu kami-sama. I'm so glad I can actually read this._ The girls from the chemistry class were there as was the red-headed boy from math. He was sitting with 4 guys who looked to be his friends. One was blonde and kind of a class clown, from the many times Itachi-sensei had scolded him, she learned his name was Naruto. Another had hair kind of shaped like a pineapple. He seemed to be sleeping, but whenever Itachi-sensei had called on him, he answered correctly, his name was Shikamaru Another looked quite similar to the shy girl from chemistry, long black hair and lavender eyes. Neji was quite knowledgeable about not only Bashō, but also many other poets who he kept referencing in his comments. Lastly, Sasuke, was the younger brother of Itachi-sensei, and to the raven-haired boy's annoyance, he was continually called on, just because Itachi could. Sophia thought it was sweet. It reminded her of the dynamic between her brother and herself.

The only comment she had made was to reference the Imagist style of poetry and a poem by H.D called the Oread, which she then recited in English. "Sorry, I didn't mean to. I just don't really know a translated version Itachi-sensei."

"That's okay, I know the poem you're referencing, and even if the rest of the class doesn't, who cares? Like they knew what Neji was talking about. Interesting comparison."

And the rest of the class continued as it had before, but she felt occasional glances at her back, as if people were staring at her. _I should have just kept my mouth shut. Now everyone probably thinks that I'm so stuck up about American stuff and think that it's better than anything a Japanese person could come up with. Crap. I'm actually really interested in Bashō's work. Back in the states I even read some of his hokku, just because I was interested. I'm doing a really great job today, aren't I?_

When the bell rang she hurried off to lunch, her stomach almost audibly rumbling. Sophia had packed herself a bento of fried egg, rice, some chicken, and a sliced up apple. She daydreamed about how good it was going to taste until she got to the cafeteria. She stopped in her tracks. _Where am I going to sit?_ If she had been sitting at a table or a desk at the time she would have surely smashed her face against it. Sighing to herself, she sat down at an empty table in the corner, trying not to draw attention to herself. This failed miserably. She was the new kid and everyone wanted to know who she was, because there was nothing better to talk about.

"We should go over and hang out with her. She seems nice enough, and it's just not right to let her eat alone," suggested Sakura, a couple tables over.

"Maybe she's shy and doesn't want anyone sitting at her table," said Tenten.

"Just because she didn't say much doesn't mean she didn't want to," asserted Hinata, standing up to walk over to her. The whole group followed her but as they started walking from their table, they noticed another group of girls approaching Sophia.

"Hello," said a red-haired girl, sickeningly sweet.

"Hi," replied Sophia. "I'm Sophia, new transfer student from America."

"We know," said another girl.

"Uhh.. Okay?"

"We're here to let you know how this school works," said a third girl. Sophia just stared back, a confused expression on her face. The last two girls of the group whispered something to each other and both broke out laughing, condescending expressions on their faces.

The red-headed girl, probably the leader spoke up again, "You see, there are some rules that we think you should be aware of."

Sophia was getting tired of this. "And those would be?" she asked in a bored voice.

She smiled a mischievous smile. "We run this school, got it? Not the teachers, not the principal. So you better do what we say, when we say it."

Sophia raised her eyebrows, "Are you done, because I'd quite like to finish my food." They looked affronted, as though no one had not taken them seriously before. "Just so you know, I'm here to learn, improve my Japanese. I'm not here to play lackey to the whims of a few shallow girls. I'm not afraid of you. I don't care if you're well connected, or you have money, or whatever it is that you think makes you so special. So get out of my face." She turned away and went back to her meal, bobbing her head along to music only she could hear, while munching on an apple slice. The girls stalked away, muttering angrily.

Sakura, Hinata, Tenten, and Ino had seen all of this go down, and now all four of them wanted to go talk to the new girl. Sophia had seen them coming and sighed thinking that they too were there to harass her.

Ino made the first introductions, "My name is Ino, we had Chemistry and Japanese together earlier today. And this is Sakura, Hinata, and Tenten. We were about to come over when the pep squad showed up and well, we were impressed. Not too many people stand up to Karin and her minions."

Sophia smiled. "Thanks, my name is Sophia and obviously I'm the new kid who just transferred from America. It's really nice to meet you all. And about what just happened, what's their deal?"

Sakura chose to answer, "They aren't the do-it-yourself type. They probably thought they could either rope you into doing homework for them, or something else along that sort."

"Yeah, when I joined the school, they tried to rope me in too. Probably because I get really good grades and I'm kind of shy, so the thought I was an easy target," added Hinata.

"That's awful."

"Meh," said Tenten. "It's not like they can do very much, especially if you want to hang with us." She lazily pulled a knife from somewhere and started polishing it and holding it up to the light.

"Thanks. I appreciate that."

"You should just forget about them, now that they know they can't get to you, they'll leave you alone. Anyway, what classes do you have the rest of the day?" asked Sakura. She passed her schedule over to them. "Awesome, you have all the rest of your classes with us. Gym, History, and then English."

"Why are you taking English?" asked Ino. "You must be fluent."

"That's what I said, but they said I had to take it. It's a graduation requirement. Plus, Tsunade-sama said that I can help other students."

The bell rang, "Come on. Let's get to class," called Tenten as she ran out of the caf.

"Gym is her favorite subject, in case you couldn't tell," said Sakura as they chased after her.

"LISTEN UP, LADIES!" yelled Anko-sensei, her voice echoing across the Gym. "I'll be your, for a lack of a better word, teacher this semester. Many of you will be disappointed that you didn't get an easier teacher, so be disappointed while you work. 10 Laps, NOW!"

The five of them formed a group as the jogged the circumference of the room. "She's a slave driver isn't she?" commented Tenten, beaming brightly.

"Tenten, you don't have to be so glad about our misery," snapped Ino.

"What's the problem? Too far away from a mirror?"

"No, I can see myself just fine, in your oily face."

"Um, are they okay?" Sophia asked.

"Yeah they just do that. They'll stop soon, don't worry about it," said Sakura.

Sophia just shrugged. Ino and Tenten didn't stop bickering until they finished running. "You girls better do better next time or I'll make it 15," said Anko-sensei. Tenten's eyes widened like that was the best thing in the world. "Today, we'll be playing dodgeball. I'll let you pick teams. Split yourselves evenly, now GO!"

The five girls and another handful managed to scramble to one side of the room. "Alright, Hinata, you play recovery. Sakura, use your power throws to knock them out. I'll be in the front with her. Ino… just stay there," Tenten commanded to the group. "Sophia, I don't really know what you're good at, so just do whatever."

"Okay, that's fine." They took their positions against the opposing team, when Sophia realized that the same group of girls that had come over to her during Lunch was over on the other side. _This should be interesting._ Anko threw the balls out onto the floor and blew her whistle. Sophia ran up as quickly as she could pushing as many balls back to her side as she could. Picking up one for herself she ran back, getting ready to aim. Tenten had already knocked out two of the girls, and Sakura had hit one pretty hard in the stomach. Ino had already gotten out for when Tenten had shouted for her to catch the incoming ball, she whined that she had just gotten a manicure. Before long, Sakura had gotten out for hitting someone in the face, giving them a massive welt. She didn't seem too bothered by it though, because it had been Karin.

Hinata, who had stayed in the back for most of the game, Tenten, and Sophia were all that was left of their team. On the other side Karin, and two of her other cronies were in on that side. Hinata had decided to step up and throw too, but missed by several feet, and got hit right after. Karin then threw a ball at Sophia's feet, which she jumped over, to then slam her ball into Karin's shins. Tenten had managed to hit the other girl, knocking her sideways, so it was just those two against the last girl. They approached menacingly. She half-heartedly threw her ball, which Tenten caught, bringing Sakura back into the game. Just as they were about to strike, Anko's whistle blew. "Tenten's team wins. Go get changed!"

They chatted on their way to Iruka's class, delighted to see that Karin's face was still red. It was a pretty average class, they discussed some of the feudal wars, and he assigned a chapter to read for homework. Before Asuma started class he pulled her aside and said, "So I understand that you're fluent in English." Sophia nodded. "And that Tsunade-sama had talked to you about helping out." She nodded once more. "Good, because we're really understaffed in this department, so I'd really appreciate your help."

"No problem, just tell me what you need me to do."

"Well, today we're going to split up into groups to discuss a video that we'll watch in just a few minutes. If you can just make sure everything that people are saying is grammatically correct in your group, then I can stay in the other one, and split my time effectively."

"Sure. I feel like I need to earn my grade somehow, because otherwise I feel like I'd be cheating, what with me knowing English fluently and all."

"I'm glad you feel that way. If you'll just step inside we can begin class." They entered, and Sophia was introduced once more, but this time in English. "Did you have a good break class? We have a new student this semester who'll be helping me out a bit. She just arrived from America, so she'll be policing the class's grammar, etc. If she does correct anything, take it with good grace because she knows what she's saying. Okay class?" They murmured their quiet assent. Asuma had them watch a short video clip from Whose Line is it Anyway?, one of Sophia's favorite shows, so she and Asuma were laughing all the way through it with some chuckles throughout the class during the less referential parts. Asuma then split up the class to discuss the parts that they didn't understand. Asuma took one side and Sophia took the other which consisted of Sakura, Hinata, Tenten, Ino, Gaara, Sasuke, Naruto, Neji, and Shikamaru.

"Alright, I don't really know how to start out, Asuma didn't give me much to go on, so was anyone confused about some of the jokes?" The boys just sat there, staring at her appraisingly.

Ino jumped right in and asked, "So who's Richard Simmons."

Sophia laughed and was just about to explain, when Neji interrupted, "You think you're special, don't you? First you mention an American style of poetry in _Japanese_ class, then you're strutting around with your English skills."

"Excuse me?" She took a deep breath. "If I gave you that impression, then that's my bad, but I don't ever remember saying that I think I'm all that, so I'd appreciate it if you'd pay attention. And for your information, not that it's any of your business, I asked to opt out of this class and take something else, so that I could earn my grade properly, but Tsunade-sama thought that all of you needed a fluent English speaker. Asuma asked me to help, so I'm helping. Now, you can either act like a pompous ass, or you could help yourself to some conversation."

The girls burst out laughing and Naruto shouted, "She pwned your ass, Neji."

"Thanks Naruto. And Ino, in answer to your question Richard Simmons is a very flamboyant person who creates exercise videos. He has a very distinctive voice which was excellently represented by Greg Proops."

Naruto then asked, content with her abilities, "Why is Regina a funny word?"

The girls started snickering, but the boys looked non-plussed. Sophia sighed, "Um. Well. Naruto, Regina is a city in Canada, and it sounds like another word."

Still not understanding, he kept going, no understanding at all, "What word?"

She just decided to go for it. "It sounds like vagina, that's what it sounds like."

"What's a vagina?"

"Really? Really? Girls, help me out, please." They did a collective shake of the head, and doubled over with laughter. "Thanks, that really helps. Chitsu," translating it to Japanese. All the guys turned a shade of red that rivaled Gaara's hair. Laughing at the looks on their faces, she added, "Anything else you want to talk about?"

After they had all calmed down, everyone started asking her about certain things that the comedians had mentioned. And when the class was almost over and Asuma-sensei had replayed the clip everyone laughed at all the jokes. She was glad that she had been useful in teaching them some clearly obscure things, but still interesting. As everyone gathered their stuff, Sophia walked over to the guys. "Hey," she said with a wave. "I know I'm new here, but you guys seem nice enough, so do you want to hang out later?"

**Okay everybody. I hope you liked it. I referenced a few things that I would suggest you check out. I think that Imagist poetry is really awesome, so I would suggest checking it out, especially Oread. Also, those were actual things from Whose Line is it anyway, even though they were from separate episodes, so I would recommend checking that show out. This is just the first chapter, and I know it was slow, but it should get interesting really soon. All reviews are welcome. Oh and if you could suggest names for the other fangirls, that would be really helpful. Hope to write more very soon,  
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**-MorwenKazul  
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	2. Girls Just Want to Have Fun

**Okay. I wanted to upload as quickly as possible so here it is. I know its kind of cheesy, but it seemed like the most convenient way to get them to know each other. And also I know that Gaara hasn't even said anything yet, but I'm getting there. Enjoy!**

_I can't believe I'm doing this. This is so awkward. They probably just think I'm weird, and wouldn't want to hang out with me. Ugh…_ They just kind of stood there. "Alrighty then. I'll just go. Ja mata." She turned around and walked off, catching up with Sakura, Ino, Tenten, and Hinata. "So do you all usually hang out after school?" asked Sophia.

"We go to this café to finish up our homework most of the time, want to join?" suggested Sakura.

"The cake is really good," coaxed Ino.

"Of course, I'll come. Even without the cake I would have come, though that is a delicious added bonus." And they headed off to a faux-French café named Le Magnifique. They settled down on couches around a coffee table. Hinata went to go get drinks for them all, a mix of lemonades and sweet teas.

It didn't take long for them to realize that they weren't getting anywhere with their homework. Sophia really wanted to learn about her new friends, and they felt the same about her, so they were locked in a stalemate, trying to get the other side to spill information.

"You know, this really isn't fair because I'm trying to learn about 4 girls, you just have to learn about one. The questioning needs to be more evenly distributed."

As soon as these words were uttered, Ino shouted out triumphantly, "TRUTH OR DARE!" The rest of them just stared at her, as did the rest of the café, including one of the overly snooty employees. "What? It's the clear solution."

Sophia burst into laughter. "That's true enough, but don't you think there was a problem with the volume?" she asked, still stifling a giggle.

"You're right. Next time, even LOUDER!"

"That's not what I meant!" Sophia quickly asserted.

"Don't even bother, Sophia-chan. She's past argument," Tenten sighed.

"How about this? Ino, if you promise to never scream that loud again, then tonight, we'll have a sleepover and play truth or dare, and whatever other shenanigans you come up with. Does that work?" Sakura suggested. Ino nodded, her face full of excitement.

Then Tenten whispered in Sophia's ear, "If that works for even a week, Sakura will be a miracle worker." She laughed. They made plans to meet up at Sophia's room, as she didn't have a roommate. This seemed unnecessary to Sophia, as Sakura and Ino were rooming together as were Tenten and Hinata, but she didn't say anything about it. Once they had a firm plan in place, they couldn't even pretend to work together anymore because they were getting so distracted. The five girls separated, promising to meet up later.

Sophia was dressed in black sweatpants and a grey t-shirt, her brown hair back in a ponytail. She made a bag of popcorn, saving 5 more packets to pop later. She pushed all the furniture in her living room area off to the edges of the room and dragged in a green quilt and a body pillow. Not long after, Ino showed up in a purple tank-top and black cotton shorts. Sakura was in comfy pink pajama bottoms and a white top that had a picture of a cherry on it. Then came Tenten dressed almost identically to Sophia, except that she was wearing a green t-shirt instead of a grey one. Hinata wore a powder blue pajama bottoms very much like Sakura's, except hers were silk, and her top was white cotton with the same kind of blue lacing the straps and bottom of her tank top. They brought an assortment of stuffed animals, blankets and pillows. By the time everyone had settled down, the room looked like a rainbow of neons and pastels.

"Did a unicorn explode in here?" Tenten asked when she got back from the bathroom, clearly disturbed by the fluffy adorableness. Contrary to Sophia's earlier thoughts about Tenten not bringing a stuffed animal, Tenten showed up with one in tow. Though she wasn't sure if a stuffed kunai named Mr. Bladey really counted.

"Ooh. Popcorn!" exclaimed Hinata when she saw the big bowl. "Thanks Sophia."

"No problem. Help yourself. I've got plenty more."

"Can we get this show on the road? There are some things I'm just dying to know about our new friend," yelled Ino. Everyone sweatdropped.

"Alright Ino, since you're so excited, you can ask first," Sophia said indulgently.

"Tell us about a boyfriend, first one, last one, anything, but details!"

"Okay… I guess you could call Max a boyfriend. We used to sit on benches holding hands, just smiling and talking," reminisced Sophia. "He was really great, and so much more interesting than any of the other guys I knew. I loved being around him."

Ino was leaning in, eyes wide. "What happened."

"He kicked dirt in my face and said I had cooties," she said matter-of-factly.

"Oh," she said crestfallen. "That doesn't count. A real boyfriend, not one of those kindergarten fake marriage things."

"I've never had a real boyfriend."

Ino looked as if she was about to cry. "You've never been in a relationship?"

Sophia blushed and averted her eyes, "I didn't say that." Everyone's heads turned to face her, confused.

"Oh. I didn't mean to assume. I just didn't figure you for a lesbian."

"No worries, I'm not big on labels. And I'm more bi than lesbian. Boys still float my boat if you know what I mean," she smiled awkwardly. "You don't have a problem with that, do you?" she asked, rather nervously.

"Of course not," cut in Sakura. "We wouldn't care if you were in the transition period into becoming a man." And then she added, "Or a woman." This made everyone crack up.

"Thanks. It's good to hear that."

"I think we're forgetting the question here. Details!" cried Ino. She clearly needed to live vicariously for a little while, so Sophia indulged her.

"Okay. Well I've only ever dated one girl, but she was something special. Still is, I'm sure of it. She had long, wavy blonde hair and the way she sang made me stop in my tracks and just stare in amazement. How when she was on stage, she lit up the whole room. I loved acting with her because she just made everything, even just walking with her across the stage so exhilarating. She's so funny and sweet. What I loved most about her was her self-confidence. She knew that it put a lot of people off at first, but she didn't give shit what other people thought. At least that's what she said. I knew a bit better though. She was just as vulnerable as I was, just as afraid of rejection." Sophia's voice cracked, "I miss her."

Now everyone had misty eyes. "What happened?" croaked out Ino.

"We wanted to tell our parents that we were bi and that we were seeing each other. When she told her parents just that she was bi, they flipped. She didn't even mention me. I was about to tell my parents when she called me sobbing. She asked me not to tell them because she couldn't bear to think that I was going through the same thing. I listened to her cry until she finally went to sleep, still sobbing. The next day her eyes were all red and puffy. She said we couldn't see each other anymore. It meant a lot to me that she cared about me that much. So that was that."

"I don't get it," said Tenten.

"You're such a guy sometimes," sneered Ino. "The stress from her parents made her feel like being with Sophia-chan was wrong, even though she knew it wasn't which made her feel guilty for feeling guilty. She hated how conflicted she felt, and knowing that Sophia-chan was probably going to tell her parents soon too, she couldn't have her feeling the way she was. Plus, I imagine this was the same year you applied to come here." Sophia nodded. "So she probably thought that it was better to cut the cord then, rather than struggle to keep their emotionally unstable relationship alive only to have it either crash and burn or keep her from getting the opportunity to go to Japan."

"That was perfect. I don't think I could have said it better myself," said Sophia.

"I feel really stupid right now. And that Ino is smarter than me. Something is wrong with the world," cried out Tenten, despair in every syllable.

"Oh calm down, I don't think it was as obvious as Ino made it out to be. Now…" Sophia said, choosing the next victim. Her smile widened when her eyes landed on "Hinata-chan. Truth or Dare?"

"T-truth," she stuttered.

"Good. Now, I _know_ that you like someone. I am dead sure. What I don't know is who it is, so Hinata-chan, who do you have a crush on?"

She blushed a dark scarlet. For a second, Sophia was afraid she had suddenly contracted a fever or something. She finally asked, "Do I have to?" The rest of us nodded, especially Ino who had missed this crucial piece of information. "I-it's Naruto." Tenten grudgingly gave Sakura 1000 yen. Ino gave her a puppy dog face, silently begging for more. "He's just so confident, like Sophia-chan said about her ex-girlfriend. He's so bright and lively. The way he speaks his mind, I really admire that about him." She was lost in her own dream world. _Perhaps she and Naruto were dancing in a field of flowers, where Hinata could be as outspoken as she wishes she was. I really hope they get together. I think they'd make a great match._ When she finally snapped back to reality, she turned to Tenten. "Truth or Dare?"

Tenten, never one to back down from a challenge proudly said, "Dare."

Hinata's face turned from a blush into the evilest grin anyone had ever seen. "I dare you-" Tenten laughed as though to say, Hinata couldn't do anything. "- to let Ino give you a full makeover." Tenten's face fell.

"How could you do that to me?" She looked like her parents had just told her Santa Claus wasn't real, her eyes wide and disbelieving.

"Fair is fair," said Ino, advancing on Tenten. Fifteen minutes later Tenten and Ino came out of the bathroom. Ino was beaming; Tenten's face was set in a permanent frown. Her hair was down from her buns in soft curls. Ino had used mascara and added burgundy eye shadow. Her lips were just a shade darker.

"Tenten! Damn girl. You look hot!" yelled Sophia, clapping for Ino's work. Ino did a little bow while the corners of Tenten's mouth twitched upwards. "And believe me. I know." Tenten couldn't help but laugh with the rest of them.

"Alright Sakura. You're up. Truth or Dare?" asked Tenten.

"I think I'll go with dare."

"Alrighty then. How about you go knock on Uchiha's door." Sakura opened her mouth to protest. "Ap-up-up. I'm not done yet. In a bra and undies." Sakura's jaw dropped.

"That's a good one," said Ino, impressed.

"I can't do that! It's like the middle of the night." Tenten clucked like a chicken. "Fine."

"Ha! I knew you wanted to all along." Sakura turned a shade of pink to rival her hair.

"Sorry. I know I'm new here, but which one's Uchiha-san?" asked Sophia.

"The one who's hair looks like a chicken's ass," said Tenten.

"Oh yeah…"

Sakura frowned, staring at Tenten, fury etched in every part of her face. When she took off her PJs, she was wearing a matching lacy pink bra and panties. "Oh this is perfect. Absolutely perfect," Tenten muttered. They all snuck out of Sophia's room on tiptoe which wasn't really useful since someone broke out in giggles nearly every five seconds, and Hinata _had_ to have the popcorn, not that she was the only one grabbing handfuls of it. Thankfully, Sasuke's room was in the same building, down a couple hallways. Sakura went up to the door poised to knock. She looked back at the group, pleading. They all shook their heads. She knocked tentatively. Sasuke answered the door, but he wasn't the only one there. Naruto, Gaara, Shikamaru and Neji were in the living room behind him. His jaw dropped, and his eyes bugged out. All of them burst out laughing, except Sakura, who hid her face in her hands. "Hope you enjoyed the show, boys," called Tenten. They laughed all the way back to Sophia's room.

"That was mortifying!" cried Sakura, as soon as they closed the door. "How could you make me do that?"

"Fair is fair," echoed Tenten. That sent everyone else into another bout of giggles.

"Fine. Ino. Truth or Dare?"

"You choose. I don't have _anything_ to hide," challenged Ino.

"Oh really? So I guess you won't mind telling everybody about that Valentine 's Day a couple years back?"

"You sneaky bitch. Fine. Back in middle school I had a crush on Chouji. He, Shikamaru and I had been friends since we were in diapers. So that day, I decided to get him some chocolates you know. He told me thanks, and that it was really sweet of me. Then he asked where Shikamaru's were. I got friend zoned by CHOUJI!" Ino then dramatically burst into tears. Sakura patted her on the back sympathetically, a grin on her face. The game continued for a few rounds. Sophia learned that Sakura had cut her hair short because she had gotten gum in it, and she couldn't tell which part was gum and which part was her hair. Tenten had her top fall off in the pool when she was seven. Hinata had refused to do another truth, so Ino had her play seven minutes in heaven with a pillow that had a drawing of Naruto's face on it. Needless to say, they found her passed out in the closet. Ino had to do the cinnamon challenge, and Sophia had to do chubby bunny. Eventually it all degraded into telling silly stories and eating not only all the popcorn but finishing the tub of icecream in the freezer. It only ended when Hinata passed out, a handful of popcorn still in her hand, and everyone decided to go to sleep. Tomorrow was a school day after all.

**Please review! Even if it's just to tell me that my plot is dull. Feedback is always great! **


	3. Miscellaneous Events!

**Okay guys I'm really sorry. I was going to post this two days ago, but every time I got down to writing it, I got really short chapters. This is kind of miscellaneous crap, but I needed to get something out. I would love criticism because I don't like this chapter very much. Anyway, here it is, Enjoy!**

The guys walked out of the classroom, bags slung over their shoulders. "Well that was troublesome," said Shikamaru.

"You're telling me. Just another girl trying to get with us," said Sasuke, bored.

"I don't think you're being fair!" cried Naruto. "She doesn't seem interested like that. She insulted Neji when they first met!"

"Who knows how American girls try to flirt?" said Neji matter-of-factly.

"Why is it that you're all so convinced that everyone is in love with you?" asked Gaara, probably speaking up for the first time that whole day.

"What are you on about?" asked Sasuke.

"She just got here, and you think she's falling all over herself so she can spend time with you? Really? I think she just wants to get to know some people since she doesn't really know anybody yet. Though, I don't think she should really have to get know a bunch of self-absorbed asses like yourselves."

"Calm down Gaara. You don't want to get a heart attack," said Shikamaru. Gaara frowned.

"Yeah. Why don't we all go back to our place, catch up from over the summer, does that work for everyone?" They nodded and headed to Sasuke and Gaara's room. They all got out their homework and started working.

Gaara stared at his math homework for a while before saying, "I don't understand this question."

"You know what I don't get?" asked Naruto.

"You don't get a lot of things, be more specific," said Sasuke.

Naruto glared for a second, and then said, "Gaara-san, how is it that you're in Calculus when I'm still in Geometry?"

"Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you can't add," teased Sasuke again. "Though I do wonder sometimes why Neji and I are the best in the class, but you're in a higher math than we are."

Gaara replied succinctly, "I studied."

"As did we," said Neji.

"Shikamaru, can you help me out?" asked Gaara because although Shikamaru was in the same class as Neji and Sasuke, he already knew basic calculus.

"Troublesome, but sure." After a few minutes of explanation, Gaara figured it all out and was able to finish the rest of the problems, but Shikamaru said, "I'll help you if I have to, but I'd like to avoid the extra bother, so if you could find someone in your class to help you, it'd be much less troublesome."

"Maybe for you," muttered Gaara.

Not long after that, Naruto started getting really antsy. He kept shuffling around and pacing. Eventually Sasuke threw a pillow at him. Naruto then declared that he would make some ramen. No one was really surprised by this as he was quite addicted to ramen whether fresh or instant.

After a while they decided to get Call of Duty out, but Naruto was forbidden to play as he still had homework in four classes left to do. Hours had passed and Naruto had finally finished so he went up to make some more ramen. A huge pot of it actually.

"Any there for us?" called Sasuke.

Naruto stood on his toes to see over the pot. "Did you want some?"

Sasuke slapped his forehead. Someone had knocked on the door. "Nevermind." Naruto came out from the kitchen to see who it was. Gaara and Neji had turned around from their seats, and Shikamaru woke up. Vaguely hoping it was a pizza man, though he hadn't ordered any, Sasuke opened the door. His eyes bugged out, and his jaw dropped. There was Sakura Haruno, probably one of the hottest girls in the whole school, and one of the least annoying as well, in pink lingerie. He had heard some giggling in the back and presumed it was her friends but didn't bother to look until she took off down the hall.

He heard Tenten call, "Hope you guys enjoyed the show, boys!" He shut the door, utter confusion on his face.

"What the hell just happened?"

"I think you should go check the mirror in the bathroom," said Neji, stifling a laugh.

"Why?" But his question was answered when he noticed his nose was bleeding. He grabbed some tissues to wipe it all up, but when he went back out everyone was laughing. "You guys suck. What do you think they're up to anyway?"

"Probably some stupid dare during a sleepover. Troublesome."

"I bet Teme didn't think so. Huh, Sasu-kun?" Naruto teased.

"Go fuck yourself. Give me that." Sasuke snatched the bowl of ramen from Naruto's hand and sat down, glaring down at the noodles.

"You know, Haruno is pretty hot. Maybe I should ask her out…" Neji said pensively.

"WHAT?" Sasuke yelled. "Why would you do that to me? How- I don't eve-."

"Calm down. I was just joking. Nice to see you aren't though."

"Like you don't want to screw Tenten's brains out," sneered Sasuke.

Neji turned bright red. "That's differ- Not important-Why would you even brin-" he stumbled before eventually settling on, "Grrr…"

"This is getting troublesome. I'm going to sleep," and with that Shikamaru passed out on the couch.

"I agree with Shikamaru. I'm heading off to bed now. Night." Gaara left the living area for his bedroom off to the left.

"Well, I suppose we better be heading out too," said Neji, picking up the still sleeping Shikamaru. "See you tomorrow."

Only Naruto and Sasuke remained now. Sasuke glared at him until Naruto finally asked, "What?"

"Get out!"

"But the ramen!"

"Out."

The next morning in calculus, Kakashi sensei began the class by saying, "Today you'll be working in partners. Turn to page 394. Do all the even numbers on the page."

Gaara heard a girl's voice to his left. "Do you mind working with me? I don't even know the names of anyone else in the class." It was the new girl. She was smiling anxiously.

"Sure." She pushed their desks together and put her book in the middle of their joined desks.

"That way we'll only need one. Okay, first problem. Ooh, fun" She got out her calculator, a TI-89 in fact, punched a couple of keys and scribbled down what might as well have been gibberish for all that Gaara could understand it. She looked up at him, eyes wide. She smiled, "Need some help? I've actually learned this bit already, but this was the closest class that they could put me in because the next course was too advanced. Sorry if that seemed a bit intimidating; I'm not actually that brilliant. But I used to tutor and stuff so this stuff is like second nature to me. What's up?" Gaara kind of just stared and blinked. That was quite a bit of information to process and she said it all very fast.

"Umm."

"No, it's fine. Is it the syntax you don't understand? Or the fact that it's worded a bit awkward. I think they could have phrased that a bit better, it's not entirely clear whether they meant the original function or its derivative or even its second derivative for that matter."

"What?"

"Nevermind. Just tell me what's going on in that skull of yours."

"Okay, well I don't really understand how the lesson in the earlier part of the chapter connects…" She helped him through a few of the first problems then he got the hang of it. They worked through the rest of it before the rest of the class was done and just talked for the rest of the period.

"Hey… So sorry about yesterday with Sakura and the giggling and yeah…" Sophia muttered.

"No. It was hilarious watching Sasuke trip all over himself. Do _not_ apologize. So why did she do it anyway? Truth or Dare?"

"Yep. They decided they needed to get to _know_ me, so Ino made us play it. Didn't end up being so bad, well for anybody but Sakura, and I guess Tenten, and Hinata. Ino's was pretty embarrassing too."

"What did you have to do?"

"Truth or Dare?"

"Either. Both."

"I had to do Chubby Bunny for one of the dares. And for the truth…" she broke off. "Let's just say it was a bad break-up. The rest of it would be breaking sleepover code. What happens in a sleepover stays at that sleepover." She stuck her tongue out. She then put her hand in front of her mouth, breathed on it and sniffed. "Oh god. Really bad morning breath. Do not breathe for the next few minutes. I beg you."

He laughed. "I promise." She stuck out her pinky and they shook. "Hey, do you think you could help me a bit?"

"Sure. No problem. What's up?"

"It's just I usually go to Shikamaru for homework help, but he recently said it was 'too troublesome.' Do you think you could help me out instead?"

"Of course! Do you want to meet today? Oh wait that doesn't make sense, we already finished it. Hmm."

"We could hang out anyway, if you want." Gaara inwardly slapped himself. He felt like he sounded like the biggest loser in the world. Thankfully for him, his source of anxiety was different from Sophia's.

"That'd be great. I wasn't sure if I would be able to make any guy friends here, especially with my failure of an attempt to try to hang out with you guys yesterday. I hope your friend Neji's ego wasn't too bruised. I didn't mean to be so rude. I just sometimes get kind of… really pissed off. Where do you want to go? I'd suggest a really nice hipster-y café that plays jazz and displays paintings from local artists, but I just got here. Oh and I'm also, not a douche." He laughed.

"There's this diner. It's got really nice burgers." He looked her up and down. She was kind of twiggy. He hoped she ate, otherwise that was kind of a fail.

She surprised him when she said, "Do they have bacon?"

A little confused, he responded, "Yeah…?"

"Awesome. I'm so there. As long as you help me get there of course… I still don't really know where it is."

"We'll leave after English." The bell rang.

"That's my cue. See you later." She dashed off with her backpack, rushing to getting to chemistry.

Nothing much happened. Sakura was still recovering from having to see Sasuke in Math the previous period. The rest of them couldn't help but burst into laughter every ten minutes or so. Kurenai kept looking over the lab instructions to check if she had a funny typo or something. Sakura was apprehensive to enter Japanese because Sasuke would be in there. Tenten just shoved her inside. Class was normal, well at least as normal as a class taught by Itachi Uchiha could get. They read some classic writings of some sort. (If you can't tell it's like 4 in the morning and I can't be bothered to put legitimate things out there. Maybe I'll fix it later, but I probably won't.)

The girls sat together in the cafeteria, eating a variety of foods, ranging from Ino's pathetically small salad to Tenten's enormous Sloppy Joe. (Don't ask me why they have this food in Japan. See previous interruption.) "I'm so exhausted from the sleepover yesterday. I don't think I can put up with another one of Anko's workouts," said Sophia with a huge yawn.

"I know what you mean, but luckily Tuesdays are health," said Sakura.

"Luckily? It's so boring. Gym is good for one thing, interrupting the tedium of the rest of the classes. How on earth is _another_ class lucky?" Tenten yelled.

"T-tenten-chan. Calm down, please," said Hinata. Tenten just frowned.

Later in Health, "Girls! You'll be instructed by Gai-sensei. Go to the classroom to left of the gym. Gai-sensei and the boy's class he teaches during this period should be in there. If you need me I'll be smoking-I mean drinking-I mean resting in the teacher's lounge." With that announcement, Anko left. The entire group started moving toward the class, Tenten at the very back.

"Girls! YOUTH and BEAUTY radiate from every pore! Sit and give the class the cancer of YOUTH." Everyone but Gai and Lee sweatdropped. "Now! Today we will be learning about (insert generic body part here) and how it is BEAUTIFUL!" The rest of the class was just as awkward if not more so. Sophia began to extremely pity the guys who had to deal with this every day. "Boys! Tomorrow we will play basketball. Girls! Anko will be taking you to the pool, so remember to bring swimsuits." The class got up from their chairs to leave, but Sophia was stuck, shortly petrified. _Swimming? Already? I was really hoping I could get away with no one knowing for a little longer. I just got friends, too. Calm down and get to class, otherwise you'll really be screwed_. She managed to shake herself out of her stupor and run to catch up with the rest of them.

History with Iruka-sensei was boring as usual. Anyway, nothing that interesting happened. He assigned another chapter to read, which presumably they would discuss the next day. In English, Asuma-sensei decided they would split up to play different games from Whose Line is it Anyway. Sophia's group played press conference, the dating game, and questions only. By the end of class they all had cramps from laughing so hard. Tenten screwed up during questions only by saying fuck, which she quickly tried to turn into a question by raising up the inflection. When Asuma dismissed them, Hinata asked, "Sophia, aren't you coming with us?"

"I'd love to, but I promised Gaara I'd hang out with him today. I'll try and stop by later, though."

"Wai-" called Tenten.

Ino interjected, very loudly and not subtly at all. "Have fun Sophia." She elbowed Tenten in the ribs and promptly turned around, pushing everyone towards the door as quickly as possible.

"Sorry about that. I don't know them well enough to explain the crazy yet, but I'm still sorry," said Sophia.

Gaara just nodded and started heading out of the classroom.

**Alright, so what did you think? Be honest in the reviews. Even flames are acceptable, I just really want some feedback. Complaints, suggestions, things that you liked. I'm begging with big puppy dog eyes. If you want to find out why she's so apprehensive about swimming tomorrow, then you should review and you'll find out in the next Chapter!**

**Thank you, thank you, thank you!  
**

**~MorwenKazul  
**


	4. Hanging Out

**Okay. I know this is really short, but I just couldn't combine this with some more. I promise I will get something longer out very soon. I don't think I simplified the dialogue as much as I wanted to. Sorry chronicxxinsanity. I'm going to harder because I really appreciated the input. Okay. Actual interraction between Gaara and the OC, so hopefully this goes well. ENJOY!**

"Oh my god! I never thought I would miss a hamburger this much. And bacon! So tasty!" Sophia had taken huge bites into her burger. In fact, she ate it before Gaara had taken more than bites into his own. "You know what? I'm going to splurge. Excuse me. May I have another? Thanks." Gaara just stared at her. She looked like she barely weighed more than 100 pounds.

"How are you so small?" he finally blurted out. She looked quite shocked.

"I get that question pretty often actually. I just don't get hungry for really long periods of time. For an entire week, I forgot to eat dinner because I wasn't hungry. One of my friends proceeded to yell at me. It's really not at all healthy, but believe me, it's better than it was a few years back. I have a question myself. Why is the kanji for love tattooed on your forehead? Not that I'm criticizing or anything, I thought it was pretty amazing, but I am curious."

"It's a long story."

"You don't have to say another word. Maybe when we've known each other longer."

"Thanks."

"Hmmm… Besides eating at American diners, what do you like doing? Oh god that sounded so lame, sorry."

"Don't be. I like reading and playing video games, I guess… You?"

"All sorts of things! Both of those, not that I'm that good at playing video games. I wouldn't call myself a gamer, but I love watching my big brother play. I suppose growing up with him playing single-player games made me used to it." She smiled. "I love watching people on YouTube, they are brilliantly funny. And I hate to go for the female clichés, but I love cooking and sewing, and sometimes even cleaning, but only when I'm anxious and umm… can't sleep." She looked down, avoiding his eyes.

"Insomniac, huh?"

"My Japanese isn't that great yet. What's that?"

"A person who has trouble falling asleep."

"Oh. Sorry. Yep, you too?"

"Look at my eyes."

"Oh yeah." She laughed to herself.

"What's funny?"

"Everyone in my family has insomnia, and the dark circles and puffy eyes, so it didn't even seem out of place to me. I feel quite silly. What's your trick?"

"Sorry?"

"How do you try to get to sleep when your head is buzzing and your thoughts won't stop plaguing you?"

"I don't."

"Even if it doesn't work, you have to have something. I use audio books. It doesn't usually work, but I still try."

"The moon."

"What?"

"I look at the moon. I have a big window in my bedroom. I just stare at it." His face started to blur in her eyes, as her eyes welled.

"Do you like roofs?" she asked quickly. The waiter came over and gave her another burger. "Thanks," she whispered to him.

"What do you mean?" Gaara replied.

"Do you like sitting up on roofs? Looking up at the sky, the trees…" she trailed off dreamily, "Sunsets, sunrises early summer mornings, clouds on windy days." She shook herself out of it. "I don't know, I just felt like you might like roofs."

"I do." He looked puzzled for a second, as if deciding something. He laid down a handful of money on the table and said, "Here, I want to show you something."

"But the bill—"

"Don't worry about it. You need to see this." He started walking out without her, so she quickly got out of the booth after him. They came up to a decrepit building, vines crawling all around and inside it. Sophia was a bit apprehensive, but Gaara continued, unperturbed. She followed him up a cement staircase onto a flat expansive roof.

She twirled around, the wind in her hair. "This is amazing. How'd you find this place?" He just shrugged and lied down on his back. She copied him. They just watched the clouds blow past. Sophia started to sing to herself.

"What are you singing?" Gaara asked.

"I'm not sure what it is in Japanese, but," she broke off from Japanese into English. "You are My Sunshine. Have you hear of it?" He shook his head, still not raising himself from the ground. She smiled. "It's my favorite song. I kind of wish I had a sunshine like that…" Gaara raised his eyebrows. "Nothing, it's not important." She stared back at the sky, humming that same folksy tune.

Before long, the sky got dark and the first star came out. "Hey, Gaara. Make a wish." He didn't reply, so she turned to look at him. "Gaara? Are you asleep? Hmm. Then I probably shouldn't wake you, but I don't want to leave you here. I guess I could try to carry you. I'm not sure I can, but I'd rather try, than the other options. You don't get enough sleep as it is." She went over to him, to try and pick him up, bridal style. "Holy Crap! Gaara, you're going to break my arms." He still didn't stir. Sophia was very determined. Once, when she was rearranging her room, she moved her wardrobe all by herself. It took her an hour just to get it across the room, but when she was done, she was very proud. This was the same thing to her, except she just needed to push the wardrobe, not carry it and she didn't feel like she could roll Gaara down several flights of stairs, a few blocks, and then back up a flight of steps… "Okay. Let's go."

She managed to get out the building before needing to rest again. She continued to take a break every block, luckily there were only 5 until her and Gaara's building. "I'm not really sure where your room is, but I know where Sasuke's is and he's bound to know, and at the very least I can unload you onto him. What do you eat anyway? Rocks?" Going up the stairs proved to be much more challenging than the opposite direction. She finally arrived at Sasuke's room and collapsed. After a quick knock, Sasuke came out, looking quite confused.

"Hello?" he said.

"Hey, can I drop him off here? He fell asleep, and I haven't been able to wake him. I don't know where his room is, but I knew where you were and I figured you could get him where he needs to go." She walked in and set him down on a couch.

"No problem…"

"Oh, and you should probably set his alarm early because we didn't do any homework. If he wakes up before you go to bed, tell him I had fun!" She was already out the door before Sasuke could call out after her.

"That was so weird," Sasuke muttered to himself. And then to his sleeping friend, "Goodnight roomie."

**I want to take this time to thank everyone who's reviewed so far. koolkat44 Shadow-Ninja-Captain69 Lun3rClockwork .Master CuteBellie115 Zerojackson and chronicxxinsanity. Thank you so much for the input. I would really appreciate more reviews because they really help pacify my paranoia that I'm writing absolute crap. Criticism, comments, suggestions, even flames are all appreciated. **

**A really quick thing. I want to put Karin's group back in at some point but I need some names for the other girls so I would love any suggestions for names that you don't like. Thanks so much!  
**


	5. Swimming Today

**So this chapter didn't turn out quite the way I wanted it to, but I kind of like the way it went. Enjoy!**

The next morning sucked for both Gaara and Sophia. Sophia had stayed up a bit later that she would have to finish her assignments in addition to the sleepover the previous day, so she was quite sleep deprived when she wandered into Calculus the next morning. Gaara had been awoken early just as Sophia had asked, so that he could finish his homework, not exactly the best thing to wake up to, though he did notice that he had slept very well, despite being dragged several blocks and dumped on a couch.

Kakashi seemed to think that leaving the class to its own devices worked out quite well for him yesterday, so once again he called out, "Partner up," before returning to Icha Icha Paradise.

"Okay, so why did I wake up at 5 in the morning on my couch when I don't even remember going home?"

"Uhhh… Well we were talking about insomnia, so when I noticed you were asleep I figured that I shouldn't wake you up because there would be no way you'd fall asleep. So I half dragged, half carried you to Sasuke's room since I didn't know where you lived."

"You managed to carry me?"

"Hey. I'm strong." He raised his eyebrows. "Don't doubt me. You know what? I'll prove it right now. Come on, get up."

"You're serious?"

"Did I stutter? Get up." He got out of his desk, shaking his head. They moved off away from the objects. Kakashi was completely oblivious, no doubt reading an explicit scene of his 'book.' She picked him up bridal style. She stumbled a little under his weight and couldn't carry him for too long, but she did it regardless.

"How the hell?" She put him down.

"There. Believe me now?" She sat back in her seat, opening her textbook.

"I guess, but still. You could have woken me up, or gotten someone else or something."

"Two things: one, you didn't wake up the whole way there, so how was I supposed to wake you up? And two, I was just supposed to leave you alone and unconscious on the roof of a pretty seedy building to get who exactly?"

"Fine."

She just smiled. "Come on, let's get to work." Once again they managed to finish all of their homework in class.

"Hey guys. Sorry I didn't make it yesterday," she said as she sat down at their table.

"Oh that's just fine," said Ino, implying something more happened than what actually did.

"Come on. It's not like that. I just got here. Did I or did I not tell you about my ex. You should know I'm not looking for anything like that. Be serious."

"I thought you said you'd try to drop by," said Ino in a sweet innocent voice.

"I would have but it was pretty late when we got back, and I had to do all my homework."

"How late exactly?"

"Uh…"

"Ha. She got you," joined in Tenten.

"Guys! We were just hanging out."

"Oh, we know, but we love teasing you." Ino then stuck her tongue out playfully.

"Mer…" pouted Sophia.

Later at lunch Ino suggested that they go sit by the boys, to Sakura's horror and Sophia and Hinata's displeasure. "Oh come on. Teasing them all and making Sakura strip down is one thing, but being forced in their company is quite another. Mostly because that bothers me," complained Tenten. Ino resolutely put her food down at the boy's table.

"Oh come on. It's not that big of a deal," said Ino. "Hey, boys. Do you mind if we sit here today?" They didn't respond. "Thanks." She turned back to the girls. "See. They don't have a problem with it so neither should you." Hinata nodded her head while the rest of them just rolled their eyes.

"Is everybody excited to be swimming today?" asked Tenten for she clearly was.

Sakura replied first. "Yes. I have been dying to get back to the pool, the last few days have been so hot. Plus, Anko is usually lighter on us these days."

"How is that a plus?" said Tenten. Ino just glared at her. Sophia could tell that another fight was about to erupt but before she could intervene Hinata came to the rescue.

"So… Sophia, do you like swimming?"

"Huh?" she was still concentrating on Ino and Tenten. "Oh. Yeah. I love it. It's so much fun, but I don't have the best stamina, so I never win any races."

Tenten became interested now, "Did you compete?"

"Oh no. Nothing like that. Just when I'm hanging out with friends and we decide to see who can get to the other side of the pool and back faster. That kind of thing."

Tenten sounded disappointed, like she might have found a worthy opponent. "Oh."

"But what about you guys? Do you do any sports?" she asked, eager to get off the subject of the upcoming swimming class.

"Just Tenten," said Ino, bored.

"Which ones?"

"Just soccer, volleyball, basketball, cross-country, and track and field."

"Just? How do you find time for all of that?" Sophia asked, incredulous. Tenten just shrugged.

The guys, so far, had just kept to themselves on their side of the table, but Sophia decided to take a chance. "Hey, you over there," she called to the boys. "Do you do any sports?"

"Too troublesome," responded Shikamaru. Ino looked over at him, eyes wide, like he was the only one who understood the unnecessarily time consuming and possibly damaging effects of sports.

"Neji, Sasuke, and I play soccer," said Gaara.

"I got kicked out!" Naruto yelled, quite happily…

"Why'd you get kicked out?" asked Sophia.

"It's because he's an idiot," said Sasuke.

"He's not an idiot!" shouted Sakura, pissed at him for really no reason, but the fact that he was an annoying chicken butt.

"He kept scoring in the other team's goal," said Sasuke.

"So?"

"So that just proves that he's an idiot!" Sasuke started to get quite as angry as Sakura. Sophia was going to open her mouth to say something but Ino held her back.

"Do you or do you not want to see what's about to happen?" Sophia agreed that this would be, at the very least, entertaining.

"The only idiot here is you!"

"Hn."

"That just proves it! You're losing the argument, so you just shut down. When are you going to stop running away from your problems, Sasuke?" She stood up and turned to the girls. "I told you this was a bad idea, Ino. I'm going." She stalked off in a foul mood.

As soon as the girls had run after her, Sasuke burst out, "What the hell is her problem?"

"She's not getting enough ramen in her diet," replied Naruto, completely serious. Sasuke hit him.

Ino was the first to speak when they finally found Sakura crying in the girl's locker rooms. "What the hell is your problem?"

Sakura looked up, rage etched in every aspect of her tear-stained face. "My problem? MY PROBLEM?" her voice was shaking she was so angry. "What the hell is wrong with him? Naruto's his best friend and he insults him all the time. How is that okay? How can he be _so_ mean?" She broke off, her voice softer now. "How am I attracted to that? How can I imagine myself with someone who is so abusive?"

Ino sat down next to her. "Ohh sweetie." She pulled her into a big hug and stroked her hair. "He's not like that. He just teases and since Naruto doesn't complain, he doesn't know it's wrong. But if he says one word to you-."

Tenten cut her short, "We'll pop a cap in his ass." Sakura choked out a laugh.

"Thanks guys. I know I'm overreacting, but I get scared about myself sometimes, because even if it isn't him, what if I end up with someone else, someone who really is abusive?"

"Sakura," Sophia was now the one to provide comfort. "I've known you for like two days. I can already tell that you're too smart to end up with a guy like that. You have way to much taste to do that either. You're so strong, you would never let him defeat you. And most importantly, you have some of the greatest friends I've ever seen. Like Tenten said, we'd kick that mofo's ass." She wiped a tear from her face. "Don't worry, okay?"

She nodded. "You're right. Just being silly."

Hinata finally spoke up, "Sakura. You're never being silly. Every worry is real, and the way that it bothers you isn't wrong, so don't think that it isn't okay. But what is wrong, is letting it stop you from doing what you want. I know all too well."

"Thanks." Sakura got up, wiping her face. "Oh god. I must look like a mess." Ino refrained from affirming this statement. Sakura went to go wash her face free of tears while the rest of them changed into their swimsuits.

Ino wore a simple black two piece. Tenten donned a sporty green tankini. Hinata put on a pale blue one piece with a butterfly on her hip. Sophia had on a red one piece swimsuit and dark red boy trunks. Once Sakura was back she put on a white two piece, much like Ino's.

"Sophia, why are you wearing those shorts?" asked Sakura.

_Shit. Just lie, do whatever you can_. "Uh… I just don't really feel comfortable with my thighs..?"

"What are you talking about? Your thighs are amazing," said Ino, utterly confused. "Come on. Strut your stuff."

"I just don't feel comfortable with it. Okay? It's not like I'm wearing a wetsuit."

"Fine. Do whatever you want, but just for the future, I will not be afraid to tell you if what you're wearing is absolutely hideous."

"That's fine, and I don't doubt that you will." She smiled. "Come on. Let's get out there and strut our stuff." Tenten just rolled her eyes.

They were a few minutes early so they sat by the edge of the pool, kicking the water with their feet. Anko soon arrived and like Sakura wanted to know why Sophia was wearing shorts.

"Please, can I just wear them? I'll do 20 laps around the pool. Anything. It's not against dress code, is it?"

"No. I was just curious. It's just kind of odd. And you don't have to resort to extra laps. The workout I'll give you today will suffice."

Everyone's face but Tenten's fell simultaneously. Tenten just beamed.

Karin and her gang entered the pool area wearing what had to be just triangles on strings. It was odd since this was a girl's only class, but they probably didn't bother buying non-slutty outfits. Karin's misled group contained Eiko, Michiru, Nozomi, and Sugako.

"Oh great. It's the crabby mcbitch crew," said Ino.

"Good one. I was going to go with slutty ho squad, but I think yours really captures the true evil," Sakura said.

"Okay, so which one's which?" asked Sophia.

"That one there," said Ino, pointing at a fake blonde. "That's Eiko. She is one of the dumbest girls you will ever meet. Sakura sat next to her in Japanese last year.

"She asked me how to spell orange."

"That little one, that's Michiru."

"She's totally rich because her dad invented Toaster Streudels," added Tenten.

"Michiru knows everybody's business, she knows everything about everyone," muttered Hinata.

"That's why her hair is so big, it's full of secrets," finished Ino.

"And evil takes a human form in Karin. Don't be fooled because she may seem like your typical selfish, back-stabbing slut faced ho-bag, but in reality, she's so much more than that," scathed Sakura.

"She's the queen bee - the star, those other four are just her little workers," said Ino. (I apologize for totally ripping off Mean Girls, but it came into my head and I had to put it in.)

"A couple of announcements. We'll be in the gym again tomorrow, but on Friday the boys will join us in the pool. Now go. 5 laps, back and forth, long ways."

"What was that you told me about Anko taking it easy?" asked Sophia.

"Sorry."

Tenten had already jumped in and was coming back before anyone else had gotten in. Once the girls finished, they were allowed to do whatever, as long as they were doing something. Tenten had decided for all of them, since she finished first, that they would play sharks and minnows.

"As long as you're the first shark," said Sakura.

Hinata whispered to her, "Are you sure that's the best idea."

"Oh yeah. Crap… We're all going to die in a watery grave…"

Tenten gladly jumped in and waited menacingly. She counted down from 10. Sophia took a deep breath and dived in. Tenten immediately dove after her, giving the other three the opportunity to sneak past her. Sophia, to Tenten's annoyance was at the very bottom of the pool, crawling on the ground. Since the rules required Tenten to bring her to the surface, she went down after her, and started tugging, but Sophia managed to get to the other side, before needing to come up for air. "You bitch!" yelled Tenten. Sophia just stuck out her tongue.

This time Tenten was ready for her, as soon as Sophia got in the water, she immediately dove down to get her. She grabbed onto Sophia's shorts which made her gasp and lose her breath, so she immediately swam to the surface so that she wouldn't drown. She made her shorts were on, but before she could get more than a few feet away Tenten got her. "And you called me a bitch!"

"Fair is fair."

"Oh, whatever. I'll get Sakura; you try for Hinata or Ino?"

"Sure."

They began to count in unison, more intimidating than ever. Sakura jumped in, Sophia scrambled after her. She managed to catch her about three quarters down the pool. When they turned around Tenten had the other two in each hand.

Sophia had to fight to keep from laughing. She finally yelled, "If it was so easy for you to catch them, why did you go after me?"

"The challenge."

"Gr…"

"Girls get out and get dressed!"

All of the girls got out slowly, not wanting to go to their next classes. Nothing that eventful happened on the girl's way to history, but it was a different story over by the crabby mcbitch crew.

"What's up with that new girl?" asked Sugako.

"She sat at a table with the cutest boys in our class today. Who the hell does she think she is?" demanded Nozomi.

"It's not like we need to feel threatened. She isn't a bit pretty, so it's not like any boy is going to ask her out," said Eiko.

"And what about that swimsuit she wore today. Ugly! And pairing it with those shorts was just weird. I thought Americans were supposed to have a sense of fashion to compensate for their horrible looks," Michiru commented.

"Don't make me laugh Michiru. Plus, I think you're being too judgmental of our new classmate," said Karin. The rest of them just stared at her. "I think she knew she looked weird, but I think what the shorts were covering must have been even more so."

"I don't get it," said Eiko.

"Of course you don't. She's hiding something, maybe a gang tattoo, who knows what that American gets up to. We have swimming again with the boys on Friday. Any chance she has now will be dashed on the rocks."

"I still don't get it."

"Just pants her on Friday."

"Okay!"

"Dumb whore," Karin muttered under her breath.

**Okay, so I know the Sakura and Sasuke was a bit random, but it seemed to flow into the story, and I didn't just want to focus on Sophia and Gaara. I feel like maybe the fact that she was wearing shorts was stressed a little too much, because to be truthful, it's not that weird. I feel like maybe I'm leading up to it a little to much and then it's gong to be anti-climactic, so I'd love any opinions on that. I just wanted to make a quick comment about Karin and her girls too. I don't want them to be the typical fangirl types that are just falling head over heels for the guys. I want them to be more like stuck up bitchy snobs. I don't know. Opinions on that would also be appreciated. If you have any comments, suggestions, complaints, I really want to hear them. **

**Special thanks to Ninja-Bunny-Master, iluvninjas, and Shadow-Ninja-Captain69 for reviewing my last chapter. ^_^  
**

**~MorwenKazul  
**


	6. So Much for Secrets

**I know this is a short chapter, but I had to put it up. More goodies really soon. Enjoy!**

That afternoon, Sophia joined the girls at the snooty café to finish their homework.

"You know what we should do this weekend?" said Ino.

"Let me guess," said Tenten.

"SHOPPING!"

"Yep. I was right."

"We'll get some dresses, and shoes. I need new boots…" she trailed off into her own little world saying things to herself as though she was the only one there. It was quite endearing unless you were Tenten. She found the whole concept obnoxious and was thoroughly annoyed.

"What if we all went out and played a game of soccer?" suggested Tenten. The girls reacted quite the same way that they did to Ino. It even shook Ino out of her magical shopping land of dreams and unicorns.

Sakura decided to play peacekeeper this time. "Why don't we watch a movie? Ino's and my place popcorn and ice cream?" So they planned that for Saturday night, they would go to Sakura's place and have a movie marathon. It was between Pirates of the Caribbean and a Pixar movie marathon. The decision was too hard to make just then.

Thursday passed without incident. They hung out at the café once again, teasing each other and cracking dumb jokes. Calculus on Friday morning was just the same. Kakashi-sensei told them to split up into partners.

"Do you want to hang out tonight?" Gaara asked really quickly.

"Sure. What do you want to do?" He just shrugged. "Sounds awesome!" she said without a trace of sarcasm in her voice.

(I know what all of you are waiting for, so I'll just cut to Gym.)

"Okay, so when she leaves her stuff unattended, you go and steal the shorts, do you understand?" whispered Karin to her cronies. Sophia went off to change into her one-piece in the bathroom, leaving her towel and shorts on a bench. "Go!" Michiru ran to grab the shorts. "Awesome. Give them here." Sophia came back carrying the clothes she had changed out of, so that they still couldn't see her thighs. "Sneaky bitch."

Sophia reached out to grab her shorts to find they weren't there. "What the hell?" She looked around, under the bench, in several of the lockers, under her towel, but she still didn't spot them. "Fuck. What am I supposed to do?"

Karin decided now was the time to make her move. There was no point in her plan if she couldn't show the whole class her secret. "Looking for something?" she asked Sophia, holding up her trunks.

Sophia's face hardened. "Yep. I didn't realize stealing was a common practice here. Give them back."

"Come and get them."

Sophia wrapped her towel loosely around her lower half in preparation to go after her. "Gladly." She walked forward, but Karin ran into the doorway leading to the pool. "Fine," Sophia muttered to herself. She ran forward. She slipped on a puddle, just as she got through the doorway. "FUCK!" she yelled. Her head hit the tile with a large smack. Karin just smirked and threw her shorts backwards over her shoulder into the pool and walked away.

Gaara heard a girl's yell, in English, and figured it had to be Sophia. He looked over to her friends and they looked kind of panicked, as though they figured the same thing. He looked back at the doorway leading to the girl's locker room and saw a pair of feet. He ran over to her. It indeed was Sophia. "Shit," he said to himself. She was unconscious, and there was a decent pool of blood from under her head. "Gai-sensei!" he yelled.

He appeared over his shoulder like lightening. "Yes, Gaara?" He saw the girl lying there on the ground. "What in the name of youth and beauty happened here? Get her up to Shizune. Now!" Gaara picked her up, cradling her head, elevating it above her heart so that she would lose less blood. He hurried off, down to the nurse's office.

"What happened?" asked Shizune when he carried her in. "Put her on this cot." He laid her down.

"She fell."

Shizune was no longer paying attention. She was muttering to herself. "She's lost a lot of blood. We should probably get her to a hospital. Loss of consciousness isn't good." She reached over to a phone, and called while grabbing ice and a pillow.

Gaara was still in shock. He just kind of stared at her. He finally noticed something on her left thigh. He hadn't seen it earlier because her towel had been wrapped around her, but it had fallen off when he had put her down. He tilted his head to see, but he recognized them. He knew what they were at first glance. Pale horizontal scars littered her thigh, making a grotesque ladder leading to her knee. He had to squint to make out some writing though, because it was in English. "I hate myself" was scribbled between two long scars. "Failure" was written sideways along her thigh.

Gaara sighed. He was so confused, but not upset. He felt like he understood her. Gaara hadn't mutilated himself, well besides his 'tattoo,' but he understood depression, very well. The constant lying, the fake fronts you put on so people don't think you're having a bad day, hating every bit of yourself, and the loneliness. He knew it all, but he didn't know her. And he resolved to, as soon as possible.

Shizune still scrambled around, finally taking notice of him again. "What are you doing here? Get back to class." He had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he forgot he was in the middle of gym class. He walked back, very slowly. When he returned, he was swarmed by Sakura, Tenten, Ino, and Hinata.

"Where is she?"

"Is she okay?"

"What happened?"

"Will she be alright?"

He was taken aback. "Uhh… She's in the nurse's office. She's unconscious and losing blood. She should be fine, but I think they're taking her to the hospital."

"The hospital?"

"Unconscious?"

"Losing blood?"

"Oh crap."

"GIRLS! Get back to swimming or I'll make you do 10 more laps!"Anko shouted.

Gaara joined his friends and wondered whether the girls knew about her scars, about her depression which had to be ongoing because some of the scars weren't that old. For the fifth time that day, he was snapped out of his thoughts. This time it was by Naruto throwing a ball at his head.

"Come on! We're playing water polo! We need even teams because Shikamaru refused to play." Not too far away, Shikamaru was floating on his back, sleeping. He was pretty talented to have not drowned yet.

Sophia wasn't in the next two classes, so Gaara resolved to stick with their plans, no matter where she was. He went to Shizune and asked what hospital she was at.

**Okay, so I was kind of uneasy about this. I hope I don't lose any readers for that. I promise it's not going to be ridiculously depressing. I've been planning this from the start. It won't change her dynamic at all. Anyway, I hope this wasn't anti-climactic for anyone. Prepare for some adorable in the future to compensate! Review please!  
**

**Thanks to: donutconection, iluvninjas, Ninja-Bunny-Master, and Shadow-Ninja-Captain69 for reviewing!**


	7. Hospital Blues

**I think that if someone was waiting for something really adorable, this is it! Enjoy!**

Gaara made his way up to Sophia's room. The nurse at the reception desk tripped all over herself when she saw him come in, so he didn't really have any trouble finding out which room it was. He walked in she was still asleep from some drugs the doctors put her on. He decided to wait there until she woke up. He sat down and pulled out his homework. He managed to finish all of it without any trouble. She still hadn't woken up, so he pulled out a deck of cards and played solitaire, while giving her the occasional glance.

During his third game she began to stir. Her eyes opened with a pained expression on her face. Her hand immediately flew up to the back of her head. She looked around and saw Gaara next to her bed. "Gaara? Where am I? The last thing I remember was getting out of the locker rooms to get to the pool," she said, not mentioning Karin taking her trunks.

"You slipped and fell and hit your head. You went unconscious and lost a lot of blood. You're at a hospital right now."

"A hospital? Damn it! I need to get out of here." She tried to get up, but collapsed instantly; her head was so light. "Fuck my life!"

Gaara got up. "Just lay back down, or you'll be here even longer." She frowned but obeyed. "What's _ your_ deal with hospitals?"

"You too?" He nodded. "Bad memories."

"Which were?"

"I don't want to talk about it…"

He looked away, not sure if he should bring it up, but it had been weighing on his mind. "I know about the cutting."

"Shit. I knew I should have put them somewhere else. Well, I feel like if anyone would understand, it'd be you. But hey, will you tell me the truth about your "tattoo," if I tell you my story?" He nodded. "Well, the last time I was in a hospital, they were pumping my stomach. I had a headache and let's just say I took one or two or maybe fifty more advil than I was supposed to. It's not a fun experience, calling 911 and explaining that you just tried to commit suicide. Your turn," she said, completely emotionless to keep from crying.

He took a deep breath before starting. "My mother died while giving birth to me. My father always hated me for it. But I had an uncle who took care of me, so my father wouldn't have to see me. Once, my father stopped by and told me to leave the room, so he could speak to my uncle. I left, but decided to listen because I almost never got to see him, and hearing him speak was close enough. They talked about some monetary stuff and then he asked my uncle how he could like me. My uncle said that he hated me, but the money my father gave him was enough for him to deal with me. As soon as I heard that, I went to my bathroom and carved it there. So that every time I saw myself in the mirror, it would remind me that nobody loves me, nobody cares." Gaara, like Sophia, had kept his voice emotionless and distant, but he still didn't look her in the eye.

Sophia was used to her story, recounting it countless times in her head when she thought about how much trouble she made, and how she shouldn't chicken out the next time, but Gaara's story was brand new. She didn't have enough time to put up the emotional shields. When he finished, she started crying and shaking her head.

"No, you weren't supposed to cry."

She stopped crying just long enough to croak out, "How could I not cry? And how could I not care?" Her eyes watered up again, but she squeezed them shut to stop the tears flowing down her face. "I hate this, you know?"

"Hate what?"

"Feeling this way. And I know you do too. Not feeling secure in yourself, and then having all of your paranoid feelings confirmed. When you feel like you suck in every way imaginable, and the only way you can keep moving on with your day is if you listen to that tiny voice that gets quieter all the time. The one that says, 'Those thoughts aren't true. You are worthwhile. You don't suck at this. You're not a burden.' And then just when you're about to have an anxiety attack because that voice has been tied up and gagged by the other voices—you know the ones, the ones that say all of those things in the first place—well then someone comes along and tells you that you weren't being paranoid. That you really do suck, and whether it confirms one of the voices or all of them, you wonder, 'If one of them was right, then what about the rest of them?'" Her voice broke. "What about the rest of them?" She squeezed her eyes shut again, stopping the tears from falling.

"I know. I feel the same way, all the time. Every time someone says, I'm emotionless or scary. Every time someone says I'm bad at just one thing. I feel like I'm bad at everything. I know. But screw them. And screw those thoughts." He was so passionate, but then he wavered, and his tone fell. "Who am I kidding? If it was so easy, no one would be depressed. We wouldn't need Prozac."

"You know. You're not emotionless. I know you aren't. No one who hurts that bad, feels nothing. Keeping all the pain, all of it inside, with a poker face to cover it, that's just normal for you and me. Speaking of which, does anyone else know about the cutting?"

"You tell me. Did you tell anyone?"

She raised her eyebrows. "And I was supposed to work that into the conversation, how?"

"Good point. No one knows I'm on anti-depressant medication either."

She looked away and thought for a bit, then asked, "Why _are_ you here, anyway?"

"I thought we were hanging out today."

"Oh yeah…" Her expression brightened "Well, besides shrugging, what are we going to do?" He showed her the deck of cards and raised an eyebrow, asking if she'd like to play. "Oooh. Yes. But what will we play with just two people?"

"Poker?"

"But we don't have any chips."

"I have a pencil and paper."

She considered it for a minute, but she couldn't think of anything else to play so she consented. Gaara knelt down on the floor and dealt the cards. "What are you doing on the ground?" she asked. She scooted over, so she was on the right side of the bed. "Come on. Get over here." He rolled his eyes, but sat down next to her anyway. It turned out the two of them were fairly evenly matched. After an hour of playing, they had the exact same amount of money they had started with.

Around eight Gaara said, "They'll probably kick me out soon, so I think I'm going to head out. Okay?"

"No."

"Sorry?"

"Can you please stay?"

"I don't think they'll let me."

"Hide under the bed, then!" She looked down at her hands. "Please…? I don't think I can fall asleep tonight, not here." He nodded and slid his stuff under her bed. When they heard a knock on the door, he too went under her bed. A doctor came to check in on her vitals.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yep. Just a little light headed."

"You should get some sleep. See you in the morning!" She left. Gaara crawled out from under the bed, brushing the dust off his shirt and hair.

"Well that was simple enough," said Sophia, brightly.

"Maybe for you," said Gaara, eyeing his clothes to make sure there wasn't any more dirt. Then he rejoined her on the bed.

"Can I show you a game?" Sophia asked.

"Sure."

"So it's a lot like Uno, you want to get rid of your hand as fast as…" She continued to explain the game that her mother had taught her.

"How are you so good at this game?" Gaara asked. "It seems simple enough."

"Practice. Years and years of practice. I can kick my mom's butt from here to the states."

"Now I know why you wanted to show me this game so bad."

"Yep! It's not that hard, you just need to minimize your losses when you know you're going to lose. I'm winning overall, but I've lost about as many hands as you have. You keep ending up with cards that are worth a lot. Get rid of the ones that are worth more, first."

"Okay." They played several more hands, and then it was Gaara who was kicking her ass. "Mm. You were right. It's not that hard."

"Merrr. Fine. Why don't we do something else, then?"

Gaara put away his cards and tossed them under the bed with the rest of his stuff. "What do you want to do?"

"Can you tell me a story, any story?"

"Sure. There was once a very lonely boy who had no one in his life. He spent his time alone. He never even tried to find anybody to share time with him. He was so afraid of rejection." Sophia put her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her. "He lived this way for many years. Until one day, when a stupid little blonde boy came up to him and asked him why he was so sad. The boy was taken aback. No one ever talked to him. He took a breath and then told the boy, 'I don't have any friends." The blonde boy smiled and laughed. 'I thought so too, but it turns out, they were right here. I just had to look for them." The lonely boy suddenly saw them, as if they had just appeared. Behind the blonde boy were three more, extending their hands, extending their friendship. From then on, the lonely little boy wasn't so lonely anymore."

"Oh, Gaara. That was beautiful. Can we make each other a promise?" Gaara looked at her, confused. "Will you promise me that if something happens, anything at all, that we'll find each other? Will you promise me that if I'm awake at three in the morning that I can call you, and you'll pick up? Will you promise me that if your day sucks, you'll come over and hang out with me? Will you promise that-."

He put a hand over her mouth. "Yes." He could feel her smile on his palm and pulled it away.

"Thanks." She burrowed deeper into his arms to hide the blush erupting all over her face. She pressed her ear down to chest and fell asleep to the steady beating of his heart and the warmth of his embrace.

He fell asleep soon after she did, and despite his awkward position, he slept better than he had in months.

**So a couple of things: One, I'm going up to the mountains tomorrow and will not have internet, so I can't post anything for several days. Therefore, this is probably going to be my last post for a while, unless I can finish another chapter before we leave tomorrow. Two, I have some interesting vengeance planned for Karin and them, so don't worry. Three, I'm sorry to disappoint some people, but Sophia and Gaara will be the last to enter a relationship, so the next few chapters will contain a LOT of the other couples and their adorableness. **

**Once again, comments, suggestions, questions, criticisms, etc. are ALWAYS appreciated so please review.**

**Thanks to: Naruto lover, iluvninjas, and QueenGaara for their reviews. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!**

**~MorwenKazul  
**


	8. Movies!

**I'm really really sorry its so late. I was up in the mountains with no internet for way longer than I thought I'd be. So please enjoy!**

Gaara wasn't the only one who was thinking about Sophia. Sakura, Hinata, Tenten, and Ino were making their own plans.

"If she can't come over to watch the movies, we'll bring the movies to her!" declared Ino, with enthusiasm to rival Tenten's during a competition of who has the most epic knives. Deciding that they'd make it an all day movie marathon, the girls woke up very early that Saturday morning to go see her in the hospital. They went to her room and were shocked to see her and Gaara asleep, together. They immediately shut the door.

Ino started babbling incoherently, reaching such a high pitch that Sakura was forced to yell at her. Hinata blushed a bright red upon seeing them together, and no doubt, imagined what it would be like to be asleep with Naruto in a position like that. Tenten was just kind of stunned. She stood there without moving, just staring off into confusion. Sakura decided to giggle between that and what everyone else had done, though she felt much like babbling, blushing, and being stunned all at the same time.

"Come on," she said, while dragging them away from the room. "We should let them get their sleep. We'll come back later for the details." She smiled a mischievous smile and skipped away, leaving the other three in her wake.

Later that day, Gaara woke up to find Sophia still asleep in his arms. He looked at her for a while, the way the morning sunlight reflected off her hair, the slight pink in her cheeks, the peace set on her face. He felt so contented. He knew he had to go eventually, but he didn't want to wake her up, and more than that, he didn't want to leave her. Unfortunately, his leg went numb, so he shifted his weight slightly, hoping not to disturb her, but that did it.

She stirred and stretched her arms. Turning her head, she saw him there. She beamed. "Hey."

"Hey."

"Thanks. For everything."

"Not a problem," he replied, meaning every syllable.

"If you have to get going, go ahead. I think I'm going to go back to sleep anyway."

"You sure the hospital isn't too scary for you?"

"Not anymore." She buried her face in the pillows and drifted off again. Gaara smirked and went on his way back home.

It was noon, when she next woke. The sun was streaming through the windows. That, combined with the sterile white of the room, made her shut her eyes again. She sighed. "What am I going to do? It's not like there's anything here. Merr." She looked around for a bit, and then she spotted it. A TV. It seemed a bit weird that she hadn't noticed it earlier, but she had been pretty distracted. Her heart leapt at the chance to escape the crushing boredom that was the hospital room. She searched frantically for a remote. It was on a tabletop all the way across the room. She slapped herself on the forehead. "Really? I can't get up because I'll feel faint and collapse, so you put the TV remote on the other side of the room? Ugh." She pouted and decided that she would try to get back to sleep. This proved unfruitful. She was about to get up and risk potentially falling over, when in burst four, extremely cheerful girls.

They were carrying cookie dough, ice-cream, popcorn, and about 50 movies. "Hello salvation! " cried Sophia.

"I see you've been bored to death without us," said Ino.

"You have no idea I wish you guys could have gotten here earlier."

"Well… We had figured that you'd want us sooner which is why we came around 8. You were asleep… And not alone…" smirked Ino.

"Wait. You don't mean Gaara do you?" They nodded. "I can totally explain He had visited me last night, and we fell asleep. Nothing happened!"

"If you say so."

"Anyway we're here for our movie marathon! Which one first?" said Sakura.

"Popcorn first." And Sophia took a huge handful. "Why don't you guys get up on the bed and we'll put in I don't know, Princess Bride?"

"Ooh good choice." Said Hinata, grabbing a handful for herself.

"You okay with that Tenten?" asked Sakura. She nodded. "Alright Ino. Put it in."

"Why do I have to do it?"

"Because I said so."

She pouted, but eventually got up and put in the movie.

"You know what? I'm surprised Tenten would consent to watching a movie with the word princess in it," said Sophia.

"What's not to like? Sword fights, giants, death, fire, screaming!"

"Uhhhh… I suppose you're right… err….."

Despite Tenten's fairly disturbing description of her favorite aspects of the movie, they found themselves quoting the lines and doing the accents throughout the entire movie. It was fairly entertaining to hear Hinata's rendition of the "mawwaige" speech. It turned out Sakura had been practicing Inigo's accent for several years and had perfected it to a T. "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die," she said every time, just before Inigo said it himself. It was really nice to forget that they were in a hospital room, that Sophia was hurt, that they had work to do, and troubling topics to discuss, and just watch a movie, together.

When the credits finally started to roll, they seemed to awake from a completely different world, where everything ended with a happy ending. It was quite a shock to see the caustic white walls of the room instead of a rainbow of pastels and soft lighting. Tenten decided to break the silence. "What happened?"

"What do you mean?" asked Sophia.

"Why are you in here?"

"I slipped and fell. I hit my head and went unconscious. I'm still here because I lost a lot of blood, but I'm getting out tomorrow, apparently."

"Yeah, but why'd you fall?"

"It's slippery in a locker room leading to a pool, and I was running-."

"And you were running, why?" cut in Hinata.

"Karin… goaded me. She.. um…"

"We saw her throw your shorts into the pool," said Ino.

"Yeah, she –uh- took them."

"Why did you run, though?"

"Fuck it. There's something you should probably know." They all looked concerned which made Sophia feel even more awkward. "I wore those shorts to cover up some scars."

"What happened?" asked Sakura.

"Did you fall off of a bike, or through some glass or something?" asked Tenten.

"No. Um. These scars aren't accidental." They looked confused. "Um. I suffer from severe depression. I'm taking medication for it, which makes me better, most of the time, but I still self-harm. I don't do it for attention, which is why I try to wear shorts to cover them, but it didn't work as well as I had hoped. I kind of didn't want to be known as "that emo girl" my first week of school. Which, side note, I'm not. Emo refers to a type of music that I don't listen to and a fashion to which I don't subscribe. I listen to indie music and wear black leggings. I'm more of a hipster than emo, but it doesn't matter. If you guys change your minds about me, if you think I'm crazy now, or that you don't want to be friends with me, go ahead. I won't be surprised." She sighed and closed her eyes as though she had given up on trying. If they wanted to forsake her, she wouldn't stop them. She was too tired to give a damn if people hated her anymore.

They were shocked. She seemed normal, happy, fine. They wouldn't have thought for a single second she had demons that consumed her thoughts when she tried to sleep and scars to prove it. They still didn't waver when Ino said, "There is no way we're leaving you because of that."

Tenten asked, incredulous, "How could you even think that?"

Hinata replied, in a soft whisper, "Those with depression and anxiety are often afraid that they aren't good enough for other people." She paused. Sophia pulled her into a tight hug.

She whispered into Hinata's ear, too soft for anyone else to hear, "You are good enough. You know that, right? Even for that blonde twit." Hinata smiled and nodded.

"We're just glad we got to know you better," said Sakura.

"And glad because now we can give Karin what's coming to her without feeling the least bit guilty," said Tenten with a malicious grin.

"Thanks guys, but it's not that big of a deal. I'm not sure we should make that much of a fuss," Sophia said, worried that Tenten was going to break into Karin's room and slit her throat, perhaps perform a Satanic ritual while she's at it.

"Nothing like that," said Tenten, as though reading her mind. "Just a bit of fun, you know. Rough her up a bit." Sophia was still extremely hesitant, but agreed just to get her off the subject.

"So, what did I miss during our last two classes?"

"Nothing interesting happened in history," said Ino. "We just have to read the next chapter. Asuma assigned us a group project for Monday. Gross."

"I thought it was pretty interesting," said Hinata.

"What is it?"

Sakura answered this time. "We have to do some sort of performance in English in front of the class. A skit, a song, just something that takes up less than five minutes and that we can explain the cultural significance of for about another five minutes."

"That sounds interesting enough. Can we work together on it?"

"Sure. That works for us, since you're the one fluent in English and with all the cultural know-how," said Ino.

Sophia laughed. "I wouldn't put it like that, but thanks."

"Any ideas?" asked Tenten.

"As a matter of fact, I think I do."

**I think the next few chapters will be deliciously enjoyably silly and sweet, so be prepared for some adorable. And of course, vengeance. Once again sorry, the next update will be very soon to make up for the tardiness of this one.**

**Thanks to: iluvninjas, SummerSmilingSkies, Ninjadog1305, and BrookieHyuga. I always love reviews, it makes me feel like I'm not just pissing in the wind, so please review!  
**

**~MorwenKazul  
**


	9. Fuck You

**I'm really really really really REALLY sorry. My parents took me to the sea for a couple weeks and they didn't let me take my computer with me. I am still an awful person. ENJOY!**

Sophia got released the next morning, though she didn't sleep as well once the girls left. Not that they left easily. The nurse who came in to tell them visiting hours were over had to drag Tenten and Ino from the room. Hinata and Sakura looked like they wanted to stay too, but they knew better than to make a fuss.

She was still a bit light-headed, but didn't say anything to the doctors when they were filling out her release forms. She felt that the sooner she got out of there, the better. Despite the last two days' sweet memories, she still hated hospitals. Once she got back, she set to cooking, as she hadn't had a decent meal in several days. Popcorn and hospital food don't really count.

Before long she had a pot of chicken noodle soup going. It had chunks of chicken breast and carrots and green onions and garlic and everything delicious. (If you can't tell, I was really hungry when I wrote this.) When it was all finished she sat down with a bowl, but was interrupted by a knock at the door. She gets up with a groan to go answer it, having just settled herself down to some nice soup.

She was surprised, but glad to see Gaara standing in the doorway. "Hey," he says.

"Hey. Do you want to come in?" He nods and slips past her to take a seat around the coffee table. "Do you want some soup? Chicken noodle."

"Sure." She grabbed him a bowl and joined him on the couch.

"So for what do I owe the pleasure of your company? Or something like that." She did a derp face. He laughed.

"Just wanted to check up on you…"

"Did you really think if I wasn't okay, the doctors would have let me leave?"

"Well, I don't know. It doesn't- I just."

"Calm down. I was just kidding. And thanks."

"So you weren't too bored without me yesterday?"

"Not at all. I didn't miss your presence one bit," she said in a mock snooty tone.

He was affronted by her lack of appreciation for his companionship. "Well I never!" he mocked back at her. They both laughed at each other's silly expressions.

"The girls came over and we watched movies. It was nice."

"Did you tell them about the-?"

"Yeah. They took it well enough. Better than I could have hoped for. Still…"

"I know what you mean."

"I know you do." They looked away from each other, creating an awkward silence.

Gaara finally broke it. "So what are you doing for the presentation in Asuma's class?"

"Wouldn't you like to know? It's a secret. You'll have to wait until tomorrow. What about you?"

"The guys and I are going to do Shakespeare." Sophia stifled a laugh. "It was Neji's idea."

"How am I not surprised? What play?"

"Romeo and Juliet." Sophia didn't even bother to cover up her laugh now. "Hey. It's a good play."

"Personally, I disagree, but okay. I mean, it's two hormonal teenagers who manage to kill not only themselves but a handful of others in the process. But what scene?"

"I can have my secrets too."

"Fine. But can you at least tell me who plays Juliet?"

"Guess."

"Is it Sasuke?"

"You'll see."

"Merrrr. Well, now that I think about it. I actually have to go. Rehearsal with the girls. You can stay and finish up your soup if you want. I don't want to kick you out."

"Okay. I think I'll do that." She grabbed a bag and dashed out. He finished in a few minutes, but he didn't really want to leave. So he got up and looked around. The fridge was stocked with all kinds of food, the cupboards as well. It was pretty clear she liked to cook and bake. He moved on to her bedroom. He found a sewing machine and a kit with needles, spools of thread, zippers, buttons and other things Gaara had no idea even had names. She liked to sew too, huh? The posters in her room depicted sitcoms from the 90's. Shows like friends he had seen because they had been translated into Japanese, but some of the others were completely foreign to him. The blanket on her bed was a pale green quilt. He wondered if she sewed it herself. He felt that if he looked in her closet, it would be too much like peeping, so he walked out, careful to lock the door behind him. On the way to his rehearsal, he wondered about this new girl. How many more things would he find out?

The next day at lunch, the girls and the boys sat separately. Neji asked Gaara, "Oh yeah, so why were you late for rehearsal yesterday?"

"Hm? Oh. No reason. Just lost track of time."

"Hn? Okay. If you say so…"

Over with the girls, they were discussing their project. "Do you think it will be okay with Asuma-sensei?" asked Hinata.

"I'm sure he'll be okay with it. Think about how much he swears," replied Tenten.

"I think that it'll be okay as long as we explain it properly," said Sakura.

"I just can't wait to see the looks on their faces," said Ino, with an evil grin.

"I'm not so sure. They could be too stupid to understand what we're saying." That got the whole table laughing.

Several hours later in English, There were four groups performing. A group of guys went first. (They did something. Imagine something vaguely entertaining.) Next went Karin and them. They decided to sing. They sang Friday by Rebecca Black. Rebecca Black sounded like she had a promising future in the music industry compared to them. Even Asuma-sensei was wincing.

Karin began the explanation. "Well, we thought that it would be a good idea to do this song because it's so popular in the United States. It's got millions of views on Youtube."

Eiko continued, "It seems pretty clear that Americans are stupid. They don't even know the days of the week. Since this song is so popular, many Americans," she threw a nasty look at Sophia, "don't really care about anything important. All they care about is partying with their friends."

"This seems further proven because of the repetitive lyrics and lack of vocabulary. It seems that American teenagers can't comprehend anything more complicated than that. One of the lines isn't even grammatically correct," added Michiru.

Asuma waited for a few seconds before breathing out in relief that the presentation was over. "Next group," he called.

The boys stepped up to the front of the class and arranged the desks.

They enacted the scene after party in Capulet's hall. (If you don't know Romeo and Juliet, this isn't going to make much sense.) Neji and Gaara played Mercutio and Benvolio searching for Romeo next to the Capulet's orchard. Naruto played Romeo and heard Sasuke speaking from the balcony as Juliet. Sasuke was very bitter about this and didn't sound in love with Naruto at all. Naruto however, played his part very convincingly. Shikamaru played the Nurse, a part he was quite content with because all he had to do was call lady or madam a couple times.

It was hilarious seeing Naruto declaring Sasuke's beauty and radiance. Sakura had muttered, "Like Sasuke needs an ego boost."

The girls were up next. They took some time setting up a computer and a projector. An upbeat song started playing from the speakers. (The pictures on the projector will be shown on the side of the lyrics it pops up at.)

**Sakura:** Look inside  
Look inside your tiny mind – a cartoon brain  
Now look a bit harder  
Cause we're so uninspired, - a grey dreary landscape  
so sick and tired of all the  
hatred you harbor - Westborough Baptist Church members picketing

**Sophia:** So you say  
It's not okay to be gay -Gay Pride Parade pictures  
Well I think you're just evil  
You're just some racist who -Pictures of the police brutality during the Civil rights movement  
can't tie my laces  
Your point of view is medieval

**All:** Fuck you (Fuck you) -Every person you can think of like Hitler, Stalin, Mao, etc.  
Fuck you very, very much  
Cause we hate what you do  
And we hate your whole crew  
So please don't stay in touch

Fuck you (Fuck You)  
Fuck you very, very much  
Cause your words don't translate  
And it's getting quite late  
So please don't stay in touch

**Hinata: **Do you get  
Do you get a little kick out of -It's literally a cartoon of someone getting kicked in the back  
being slow minded?  
You want to be like your father –A man sitting in an office chair facing away from the camera  
It's approval your after  
Well that's not how you find it

**Ino: **Do you  
Do you really enjoy living a - A picture of the Wicked Witch of the West cackling  
life that's so hateful?  
Cause there's a hole where -Cartoon of dark spiral in a chest cavity  
your soul should be  
Your losing control of it and  
it's really distasteful

**All: **Fuck you (Fuck You) -Same kind of pictures as the last chorus  
Fuck you very, very much  
Cause we hate what you do  
And we hate your whole crew  
So please don't stay in touch

Fuck you (Fuck You)  
Fuck you very, very much  
Cause your words don't  
translate and it's getting  
quite late  
So please don't stay in touch  
Fuck you (Fuck You)  
Fuck you (Fuck You)  
Fuck you (Fuck You)

Fuck youuuuuu  
**Tenten:** You say  
you think we need to go to war –Mushroom Cloud  
Well you're already in one  
Cuz it's people like you - Osama Bin Laden  
that need to get slew  
No one wants your opinion

**All: **Fuck you (Fuck You) Same kinds of pictures as before.  
Fuck you very, very much  
Cause we hate what you do  
And we hate your whole crew  
So please don't stay in touch

Fuck you (Fuck You)  
Fuck you very, very much  
Cause your words don't  
translate and it's getting quite late  
So please don't stay in touch

Fuck You…..

Asuma-sensei just kind of stood there, stunned. He probably wasn't expecting that much swearing.

Sophia spoke up first, "That was Fuck You by Lily Allen. She's a British singer/songwriter. Her lyrics are clever and insightful and contain topics from materialism to drug abuse to religion. We chose this song in particular because it really expresses both the intolerance that people find not only in Britain and the States but all over the world and that people won't just stand for it. That people Lily Allen will fight against the injustice. All those people who think that what they're doing isn't wrong, that their hatred of others is okay, fuck them." Sophia stared straight into Karin's eyes at this statement. The rest of the girls pointed out other aspects of American or British culture that were depicted in the verses and how pertinent they are, but Sophia just stood there staring straight into Karin's face, daring her to say something back.

Asuma-sensei nodded interestedly during their explanation and seemed quite pleased with their presentation. Despite their swearing, the girls were confident they got an A.

**Okay, so this is not the full revenge scheme that I am planning to do. There is more to come with that. I would suggest Lily Allen to basically everyone. I really wanted to put that song in there, so yeah. I'm not even going to promise to put out a new chapter soon because I clearly can't keep any promises. Please Review!**

**Review Thanks to: iluvninjas BrookieHyuga Shadow-Ninja-Captain69 naruto1305 The Kazekage of Suna  
**


	10. Rumors: May Cause Hyperventilation

**Okay, so I didn't prefrood this, or froopead or whatever. Um... Yeah. So if there are any inconsistencies or something doesn't really make sense, or something it's because it's 4 in the morning where I am. My head is hurting, but I just needed to write something. I didn't really plan any of this, but it happened anyway. Please ENJOY!**

"Gosh, I never knew swearing in school could give you such a rush!" joked Sakura later in that café of theirs.

"Sorry guys. I shouldn't have suggested it," said Sophia.

"No, it was a good idea," said Ino.

"Plus, did you see Karin's face? Priceless," added Tenten. They all had to laugh at that. She had looked like a pug. They all knew in the back of their heads that she was making up a plan as they spoke. Some kind of payback. She wasn't going to let them get away with such a public insult. In fact…

"Karin, what are we going to do about them? We can't just let them go without some sort of punishment," asked Nozomi.

"I think we need to dig up some dirt on this new girl. She's clearly the inciter. The rest of them fell in line before she came. Sugako!"

"Yes?"

"Get out your laptop."

Sugako got out a gaudy bedazzled pink laptop. It might have been cute if she wasn't its owner. Karin immediately got onto Facebook. (Now, pretend that privacy settings don't exist on Facebook and that they can see everything.) The rest of the girls crammed in around her. She did a search for Sophia and found her immediately as her last name isn't very common. Her profile pic was her smiling with her mom. "How sad is that? Is that her best picture?" The rest of them laughed at Karin's 'joke.' She scrolled down her timeline, trying to find something interesting. Her eyes widened. Sophia went from being "in a relationship" to "single." "Look at this girls. It looks like actually someone went out with her. Probably some pox-faced nerd without any sense of fashion. Let's find him, shall we?" The rest of them laughed along with her cackle. She then went to her pics. She didn't find her in a romantic picture with a single guy. There was a picture with her lying on top of one but there were 15 other girls also lying on him, and they were on a set for a drama production.

Michiru whispered to Eiko, "Do you think we're ever going to find something?"

"What was that?" snapped Karin.

"Nothing…"

"There's got to be something here," she muttered to herself. She was about to give up when she hit the jackpot. Sophia was kissing someone. They were hugging, kissing holding hands, sitting on park benches. They were together with some other friends. Karin was hoping to find some nerdy pathetic boy, but was sorely disappointed on that account. _She_ was incredibly attractive.

"Hah. We got the dyke. Michiru, you know how to get information around, right?"

"I'm offended you had to ask." She smiled mischievously and whipped out her cell phone.

"Damn…" whispered Nozomi, still looking at Sophia's ex-girlfriend.

Sugako added, "Who would have known that bitch could get someone that hot?"

"Shut up!" shrieked Karin.

"Still, now you don't need to worry about Sasuke, huh Karin? She's into girls," said Eiko, stupidly.

"Are you saying that I was threatened by that nothing? That I was afraid she could get the only boy attractive enough to be worthy of my beauty? Don't make me laugh." Eiko just shrugged.

Back with our favorite group of giggling girls. "Hinata, I was thinking. Ever since I found out that you liked Naruto," said Ino. Hinata's face turned bright red, and she started stammering.

"Ino, don't surprise her like that!" scolded Sakura

Ino just ignored her. "Anyway. I think that we should work out a plan to get you two together."

"I-I don't think that's such a good idea," stammered Hinata.

"I've got his number, you can call him, ask him if he wants to hang out, and if he says yes, then we'll help you get ready. It's only 4 right now, so if we hurry up, you guys could catch a movie at 7. You don't have to say it's a date. You could just say that it's two friends hanging out together," Ino delivered her spiel over Hinata's frantic shakings of her head and mutterings, Sakura's admonitions and Tenten's raucous laughter.

Sophia just grabbed onto Hinata's hand and whispered to her, "You don't have to do this if you don't want to. But if you ask me, I think it's a good idea."

Hinata stopped shaking her head and muttering. She looked up, her eyes wide. "Do you really think so?"

Sophia nodded. "You have to start somewhere. And if you're afraid Naruto will find out you like him, if you ask him out to see a movie, don't be. Naruto's, how can I phrase it?"

"An idiot," interrupted Tenten.

"To be blunt about it, yeah. He won't figure it out until you tell him outright."

"Really?" asked Hinata, hope in her voice.

Sakura gave a huge smile, "Yep."

Ino got even more excited, as she always did when she thought she might be about to give someone a makeover. "So are you going to do it?"

Hinata nodded. Sophia, Sakura and Ino all did a squee, and even Tenten beamed at the lovesick Hinata. Hinata took a couple calming breaths then pulled out her phone. She dialed the number. When Naruto picked up, she said without a tremor in her voice, "Hey Naruto. I really liked your performance of Juliet earlier." The rest of them could hear Naruto's laugh through the phone. "Anyway… I was wondering if you'd like to see a movie with me later?" Sophia could see Hinata's breathing get faster. She squeezed down on her hand for reassurance. Hinata smiled back and straightened up. "Really? That's awesome. Seven? Sure. I'll see you there." She hung up the phone. A huge smile stretched her face. "I can't believe it. I'm going to go on a date with Naruto!" They gave her a huge group hug.

"Come on everybody. Let's go to Hinata's we need to get her ready. If we run, we might be able to make it," called Ino, already at the door.

"Whoa. Calm down Ino. We're not running a race," said Sakura.

Tenten perked up at the word race. "Race? I love races. I'll race you Ino! Let's go!"

Tenten ran out the door, Ino at her heels, not one to let Tenten beat her at anything.

Once Naruto came knocking at the door, Hinata had her hair back in a messy bun, very faint makeup, Naruto wouldn't even be able to notice. She was wearing a blue, knee-length circle skirt and a knitted grey top. The rest of the girls were just sitting, chatting away, trying not to be conspicuous, not that Naruto would notice. "You look really nice," he said.

"Really? Thanks."

"Come on, or we'll miss the movie." He grabbed her arm and pulled her off. Once the door closed, they all burst out laughing.

"If we can get Naruto to figure out that Hinata has a crush on him by Christmas, we'll have achieved a miracle," sighed Sakura.

"Anyone want pizza? I'm kind of hungry," asked Sophia. They agreed on a half plain cheese for Sakura and Ino and a meatlover's with extra bacon for Tenten and Sophia. They spent the next hours watching T.V. and wondering how Naruto and Hinata's 'date' was going. Hinata finally came back at 10, cheeks red, a silly grin slapped on her refined features.

"What happened?! Tell all!" screamed Ino as soon as she saw Hinata's foot step in the door.

Hinata relayed the story of how Naruto let her pick the movie, since she was the one who asked to come. They ended up watching a comedy. He bought her a large tub of popcorn, he had heard that she liked it. (Idk why, but somehow I made it so that Hinata really likes popcorn…) When it was over they went on a walk around the town, talking about all kinds of things. Then Naruto said that he just had to show her something. He took her to Ichiraku Ramen for a bowl. "It was the best ramen I've ever had. I was surprised I'd never heard of it before. I really like him. The more time I spend with him, the more I like him."

"He likes you too. I'm not saying I know in what way, but he has to like you to hang out with you alone for a few hours," said Sophia.

"Do you think I should confess?" she asked quickly as though that would make the question less painful. "It's just that I don't think I can live with the uncertainty any longer, you know?"

"I know. I didn't make the first move with my ex. I waited around for her. We could have had a few more months if I hadn't been a chicken… I think that you should follow your heart or gut or hormones or whatever it is and when the moment feels right, don't miss it. That's just me," said Sophia.

"Thanks. I think I'm going to do it. Maybe even tomorrow! I just feel so empowered by these last few hours and that if I don't keep up the momentum I'm going to regret it."

"I think it's a great idea, Hinata. Listen to yourself. You haven't stuttered once. He's good for you this one," said Tenten with an encouraging smile.

Hinata smiled again, but when she spoke her voice was soft and slightly trembling, "And if, you know, it doesn't work out, then it can finally be over. One way or another, this fear, this anxiety, it'll be over."

"Oh sweetheart," said Sakura. "Come here." They embraced, causing everyone to engage in their second group hug of the day.

"Oh what the hell, do you guys want to stay over tonight?" asked Tenten, who shared the apartment with Hinata.

"Are you sure you wouldn't mind?" asked Sakura.

"Ooh, but I'll need to go get my makeup back and maybe some-" started Ino.

"No." But it wasn't Tenten, it was Hinata. "I think you've had enough for one day Ino."

"Just one more, please."

"You're addicted."

"I'm not addicted. I can stop whenever I want. I just don't want to." Hinata gave her a no-nonsense stare. Ino pouted. "Fine." The rest of the night was populated with junk food, bad movies, board games and lots of laughter.

The next day, they all went together, laughing all over each other. Tenten even joked that Naruto was about to declare his undying love for Hinata in the school's courtyard. So when they saw Karin and her lackeys, their faces fell into identical frowns.

"I forgot about them," said Hinata, almost pouting.

"I wonder what they've got planned for us this time," said Sakura.

Tenten, true to her competitive spirit declared, "Bring it."

Calculus went on as normal. She and Gaara shared a few laughs about Naruto and Hinata. According to Gaara, Naruto has liked Hinata since midway through last semester. "Well, Hinata is head over heels in love with that boy," said Sophia. "I'm glad to hear he feels the same way. She's been really nervous about today."

"What's going on today?" Gaara asked suspiciously.

"Nothing," she replied, a little too quickly.

Later in Chemistry, the girls sat together, working on their lab. Sophia didn't dare tell Hinata about Naruto's feelings. She had no idea how she would react to that information. She did notice something strange though. People were looking over at their table, pointing and whispering behind her hands. Sophia was starting to become paranoid. It wasn't as though Karin could do anything to her, but the suspense was getting on her nerves. She wanted to know what punishment she picked. The whispering and pointing continued through Japanese, but the students weren't just pointing at Sophia, they were pointing at the rest of the girls too.

Hinata decided to do it at lunch. As soon as she left the group, guess who sat down. Herpes, Gonorrhea, AIDs, Syphilis, and Teen Pregnancy! Or you know their actual names… Karin spoke directly to Sophia, "I suppose you've noticed."

"Your halitosis, yeah, but somehow I feel like you're talking about something else."

"Well, American. I've found out your secret."

"What secret?" Sophia actually had a smile on her face from trying to keep from laughing.

"You're a big fat lesbian."

"Nope."

"EXCUSE ME?"

"I'm not a lesbian." She replied with a straight face.

"Then why are you kissing this girl?" she pulled up the picture on her phone and shoved it in her face. Sophia coughed from the stink of the perfume she must bathe in.

"She was my girlfriend."

"And what you aren't attracted to girls, but you went out with her anyway?"

"No, I like girls, I just like boys too. I'm bi, not a lesbian," she said matter-of –factly. "I also didn't realize that was a secret. I didn't tell you, well mostly because I wasn't sure you were capable of understanding human speech, but also because it's none of your business."

"I think it's my business and the school's business if their students are having sex on school grounds."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You arrived together to school today, didn't you?"

"Your point?"

"I have it on strong authority that you four slept in the same room last night, and that quiet girl, Hana or whatever was there too."

"Hinata," growled Tenten.

Sophia made a motion to quiet Tenten. "That's not against the school rules."

"Yeah but a room with 5 girls, and at least one of them is a lesbian. What do you think would happen?"

"You're joking right? I'm supposed to believe the school board is going to expel me for a sleepover."

"Who cares about what the school board does? I think what does matter, is how many people have heard this juicy tidbit. Our very own lesbians. I think I'm going to go, or I might catch gay. Bye American, or I suppose I should call you dyke, maybe lezzie. I'm going to think about it. Toodles!" she turned and strutted off.

"That bitch!" spat Ino.

"Oh, don't worry about her. What's going on with Hinata? I haven't been able to see with that cow blocking my view," said Sophia.

They turned to see Hinata running out of the cafeteria, alone.

"Shit! I knew that bastard would hurt her!" cried Tenten.

"Didn't you say yesterday that—," said Ino.

"Never mind that now. We have to go after her," said Sakura. They tracked her to the nearest girls' toilets. She was hyperventilating and had the most confused look on her face. "Sweetheart, what happened?"

"I don't even know. One minute we're talking about what a nice time we had last night and that we should do it again, the next he has a funny expression on his face and he's telling me how good of a friend that I am. Whatever choices I make with my life, he'll always be my friend. I don't understand," Hinata started hyperventilating again. "Does he just pity me, so he's letting me down easy, but he'd never want to go out with someone like me? Is that it?"

"No!" they chorused.

"I think I know what happened. He probably heard the rumors. I'm so sorry guys. I thought she couldn't get to us. I shouldn't have risked getting you on her bad side too," said Sophia, looking at the floor, feeling so guilty.

"Don't feel bad. Singing that song was brilliant! And that bitch makes us miserable just by breathing," Tenten reassured her.

"I really don't understand now," said Hinata.

Sakura calmly explained how the whole school thinks they're all lesbians and that they supposedly engage in lesbian orgies all the time, etc. "So Naruto probably thought that he was telling you how he was okay with you being gay. He wasn't rejecting you at all."

"That doesn't mean that he actually does like me. I can't try telling him now, only to be rejected a second time."

Sophia spoke up, "I guess I should have told you earlier, but I wanted you to make sure that you made the decision to tell him all on your own. This morning, in Calculus, Gaara told me Naruto's liked you since last semester."

Her eyes widened in disbelief. She shook her head like it couldn't be real. "You're just trying to make me feel better. That just can't be true."

"Why do you think he had a funny look on his face when he told you that he was okay with you being a lesbian, idiot?" Ino spoke now. "He was so clearly disappointed. He hoped you liked guys. He really hoped you liked him."

"I just can't deal with this right now."

"Let's take you to Shizune. You just had a pretty severe anxiety attack and you're still shaken up. I'm sure she'll let you go home," said Sophia.

"What about Naruto?" she asked.

"We'll deal with the rest," Tenten assured her. "Don't you worry."

**So this had payback from the bad girls. opposite of what I intended, but my plan for them is still in formation, and I really wanted them slinging insults at each other. Also, since one of my genres is romance, I should do some of that rather than really depressing crap. Of course the other one is humor, and it's not funny at all, so yeah... Like I said, I didn't really proofread, so if anything is unclear or doesn't make sense, please tell me.**  
** I really appreciate reviews sooo... **

**Thanks to: iluvninjas, sayuri'suzanna'inuzuka4ever, naruto1305, Shadow-Ninja-Captain69, and BrookieHyuga for reviewing. I really appreciate it!  
**


	11. Some Storytelling

**So I feel like I use the word lesbian way too much in this chapter, but I had to do damage control... I hope you'll find this appropriately adorable. ENJOY!**

Shizune let Hinata go back to her and Tenten's room to get some rest. But the rest of them still had to get through the rest of the day. Karin's sneers and jokes didn't really mean anything, but the way everyone else looked at them stung. Some were curious, others confused, and some plain disgusted.

"You'd think people would have something better to gossip about," said Ino.

"We'll work on damage control with of the rest of the school later. First, we need to get Naruto on the right track," said Tenten.

"I'm going to talk to Gaara. Maybe he'll know a way to tell Naruto without letting him know Hinata is in love with him, so she can tell him herself," said Sophia.

They agreed that this should be their first action. After English class, Sophia cornered Gaara. "Hey, do you think we could talk?"

"Sure," Gaara replied, coldly.

Sophia was shocked by this. He acted like this with other people, but not with her, they knew each other too well. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know. You tell me," he spat. "Or am I too inconsequential to even merit that information?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I told you everything. Things I haven't told my best friends and you couldn't even tell me that…"

She finally understood. He was upset he hadn't confided in her. She was afraid he was rejecting her just because she wasn't straight. She softened her voice and grabbed his hand. "Karin is a lying manipulative bitch. She spread the rumor about me and the girls. I suppose I haven't been entirely honest. I'm not straight. I'm bi, but it didn't really occur to me to tell you. The rest of them are straight, though. Karin just thought the rumor that we were in some sort of lesbian tryst would hurt us. I guess if you were angry at me, then it has…"

"I just, I thought we told each other everything. I don't even know that much."

"We only just became friends. There are so many things we have yet to learn about each other. Our favorite colors, songs, times of day. Childhood memories. I can't wait to tell you about all of them. I'm so sorry. I just didn't think about that, because being bi isn't the first thing that comes to mind when I try to define myself. But you and I. Tonight. If you aren't too upset with me, do you think we could go on a walk? You can ask all the questions you want, and I'll answer every one."

He just nodded.

"There's just one more thing. You know how we were talking about Hinata and Naruto earlier today…" She relayed her friend's dilemma. "So do you think you could mention it to Naruto, and really the rest of the guys that they aren't lesbians? We aren't having hot lesbian sex and that we aren't the least bit inclined to do so. Please?"

"You didn't even have to ask. I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have overreacted. It's just hard to trust people, and you're the only person who I've been able to, ever."

"Don't apologize. I know exactly what you mean. I hate to leave you, but I need to get to Hinata and Tenten's place to check on her and tell them what's going on. I don't think I can thank you enough. Ummm. I'll swing by your place around 5?" He nodded. "Great. Bye!" she beamed and dashed out of the classroom.

Gaara walked out of the school. _"I don't understand. Why was I so upset? So she hasn't told me everything about herself. We've only known each other for a week. I just wish I knew everything there was to know about her. It's like she said. I want to know her favorite color, the song she sings to at 5 in the morning, her favorite food. I wish I knew what she got up to when she was a little kid. I want to know all of those stories she tells. Still, I don't understand why I was so upset." _

A voice in the back of his head said, _"You like her. A lot."_

_"No. That's not it. I just trust her. I want her to trust me back."_

_"Whatever you say..."_ Gaara scowled at himself.

When he got back to his room, he found the rest of the gang there. Naruto was hanging his head and half-heartedly eating a bowl of ramen. "What's going on?"

"Hinata only likes girls," said Naruto, with a sob.

"No, she doesn't."

"What are you talking about?" asked Sasuke. "Everyone's saying that all of those girls are lesbians."

"It makes sense. They're the least troublesome girls we know," added Shikamaru. "What a pity."

"Tenten's always been so strong. I should have suspected she was a dyke," said Neji, disgraced with himself.

"How many times do I have to say it? THEY ARE NOT LESBIANS!"

"How do you know?" sneered Sasuke.

"I was just talking to Sophia." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Karin spread the rumor to get back at them for that song they did yesterday."

"Oh. Karin's a total bitch. That should have occurred to us," said Sasuke, mentally slapping himself. He was really afraid that the pink-haired girl who had so frequented his dreams was out of his reach forever.

"Anyway. Naruto. Hinata's into guys. So that means you still have a chance. Personally, I think she likes you, so maybe you should tell her how you feel. With the way you acted earlier, she'll probably be too afraid to tell you anything if she does like you," said Gaara.

"When did you get so smart about girls?" asked Neji, secretly wanting the same information.

"I started hanging out with one. She's pretty…" He almost stopped there, but quickly added, "bright. She's pretty bright."

The rest of them just smirked. He glared at them. Naruto had perked up from the information. The ramen he'd been picking at mysteriously vanished. "So all-knowing medium between guys and girls, how should I tell Hinata?"

Gaara was stunned. He had no idea. He thought about how he might tell someone, that is if he liked someone… "Just spend time with her. When the time feels right, maybe then? Can I make a quick call?" He slipped out into the hallway and called Sophia.

"Hello?"

"Hey. It's Gaara."

"Hey. I thought we were meeting at 5."

"Yeah, but I have to ask something. So Naruto is asking about how to tell Hinata he likes her."

"No. Really? YES!"

Gaara heard in the background, "What the hell are you talking about over there?"

Sophia just replied, "Never you mind."

"Anyway, so I don't really know what to tell him. I figured you'd know best. I told him to just slip it in when the time felt right."

"You're better at this than you think. I agree completely. Just tell him not to wait too long to tell her, or she'll lose hope. Also, since she has anxiety, I'd say to make sure it's in private. Or she might get really embarrassed."

"Thanks."

"No problem. I want this to work just like you do. I'll see you in a bit." She hung up. He walked back and relayed her advice, making care not to imply in any way that Hinata definitely liked him back.

"You know I'm surprised you're so invested in this," said Neji.

"Yeah. Normally you're about as involved as Shikamaru." Sasuke gestured to his friend, who was currently sleeping on the carpet.

"You're my friends," he said succinctly.

"Yeah, but. Oh never mind." Sasuke just rolled his eyes at his roommate. He silently wondered what's been bringing on the change in his previously cold friend. It wasn't long before the answer came knocking on the door.

"Hey. You ready?" she asked through the door.

When he saw her, Gaara beamed. "Just a sec." He grabbed his shoes and quickly put them on. They went on their way.

Sasuke wondered aloud to the group, "You don't think he likes this new girl?"

"It's taken you this long to notice? You were teasing him about it not that long ago," said Neji.

"Yeah, but. I didn't think it was actually true."

"Wow, Teme. You're even stupider than me," teased Naruto.

"Even I knew that," said Shikamaru, who everyone thought was sleeping.

"Fine, but I bet you didn't know that you liked Ino."

Shikamaru actually sat up at this accusation. "What? I don't like her. She's the most troublesome person I've ever met."

Neji replied instead of Sasuke. "That hasn't stopped you from staring at her since freshman year."

"What about you and Tenten?" snapped Shikamaru, eager to get the focus off him and his

'secret' crush.

"What about me and Tenten?"

"You've been mentally undressing her in every class you've had together for the past year," said Naruto.

"I gave you my blessing with Hinata because I don't want her with that weirdo Kiba, but I can retract that at any time."

Naruto was keen to have Neji on his side where Hinata was concerned so he turned back to Sasuke. "Sasuke likes Sakura!"

Sasuke had no retort, so he just stuck with his reliable, "Hn."

Gaara and Sophia were off on their walk. They had no destination, they just wandered downtown streets. "I guess I should start with me being bisexual…" Sophia began awkwardly. "I don't know. I just don't see why someone's sex matters when it comes to love."

"You said that you'd been through a bad break-up," he said, remembering their conversation about the crazy sleepover the girls had last week.

"Yeah. She and I well… Her parents weren't okay with it and I was going to come here anyway, so we just called it quits."

"Do you miss her?" he asked, a strain in his voice.

"Yeah. It's not like I don't still care about her, but I've had the whole summer to get over her. She and I aren't going to happen. I've accepted that and so has she." He nodded his head. "Can I ask the next question?" she said, eager to get off the subject of her ex. "What is your favorite color?"

"Red."

"Same here… But not like cherry red. More like a blood red, but not in a creepy way. Just less bright than that. Not quite a burgundy."

"So… red."

She blushed. "Yeah."

"Okay. So tell me about a really good memory."

"Well hmm. I suppose that'll work," she said, mostly to herself. "When I was little, there was really long wooden fence behind my house. Me and my best friend of the time would ride bikes along it every time she came over. There were a lot of college students in the area and they dropped tons of bottle caps. We started a collection of them, old, new, rusty, shiny. It didn't matter. We had them all lined up down the fence. I think we managed to get over a hundred."

"Then what?"

"Oh. I moved. I haven't seen her since. But I told her to take the caps. I wonder if she still has them. I doubt it, but I hope she does."

"That's really sweet."

"Sweet? I didn't think that was part of your vocabulary, Gaara." He just kept walking. "Alright, well I want to hear something from you now."

"Well, you know my family history." She nodded solemnly. "But there was a lake I used to go to during the summer. All the way on the other side of it, there was a bench swing. I spent hours there every day I was in the area. I found out that I love swimming. I'd swim until I got all pruny and then I'd dry out on that swing. The people I was staying with didn't really care where I was, so sometimes, if I wasn't hungry, I'd skip dinner and just stay out there all night. We were so far away from any light that I could see the milky way, a big shining white stripe in the middle of the sky."

"And the moon?"

He smiled. "And the moon."

"That sounds amazing. I've never been out far enough from city lights to see the milky way. I tried to get my dad to take me out during a meteor shower, but he had work the next day. I tried to see them from my rooftop. I didn't manage to see a single one, and I fell asleep up there…"

"I'll have to take you sometime."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Now _that's_ sweet." He blushed, but Sophia didn't notice. She was too busy staring up at the sky.

"So… your turn?"

"Oh yeah." she said, snapping her head down from the sky. "Well there was this one birthday…" They kept swapping stories until Gaara's stomach did a soft rumble. So they went to a restaurant and had dinner.

From all of their stories, Gaara figured that Sophia cares a lot about people. She never had more than a couple of friends at a time, but she was incredibly loyal. Sophia found that Gaara never had anyone to care about. In all of his stories, before Sasuke, Naruto, Shikamaru and Neji came along, he was alone. His favorite memories were when he got away from everyone else. The stories started to tear at her heartstrings so much so that she just wanted to give him a huge panda bear hug. She knew he didn't want to be patronized by her tears or hugs. He spent all that time making an image of a tough guy, the one who didn't get hurt by anything. Still, she couldn't bear it any longer. It was past nine and pitch black outside, so she started shivering. She latched herself onto him for the "warmth."

"Are you really that cold?" he asked. She just nodded into his back. "Here. Take my jacket." And he took off his sweatshirt and plopped it over her head. She inwardly sighed. Now she was overheating and couldn't give him a hug.

"Thanks," she said, trying to conceal the sarcasm. Before they knew it they were back at the dorms. They silently went their ways back to their rooms. Sophia just collapsed on her bed, exhausted out of her mind. Gaara, however, had his roommate to contend with.

"So, did you have fun on your date?" teased Sasuke.

"What are you talking about?" said Gaara, not in the mood for anything but bed.

"You are so clearly smitten."

"You're one to talk. Just because I have a friend who's a girl doesn't mean I want to jump her, unlike you. By the way, while I was gone, did you make use of my absence and get out that picture of Sakura you keep under your bed? I'm sure she would have enjoyed the privacy." That shut Sasuke up. Gaara smirked and went to bed. "Good night," he called over his shoulder.

**I hope you guys liked it. I don't have a clue what I'm putting in the next chapter so it might be a while before I get it out.**

**Thanks so much to everybody who reviewed the last chapter: iluvninjas BrookieHyuga naruto1305 Shadow-Ninja-Captain69 ****Annerizu-san. I really liked the suggestions about what to do with Karin. Maybe I actually do know what I'll put in the next chapter... Who knows?  
**


	12. Revenge Time

**Okay, so this is probably the shortest chapter I've put out so far, but it's better than nothing. Hopefully. Anyway ENJOY!**

The next day, Gaara met up with the guys to set off for school together. "So I think I'm going to ask her to go out with me tonight," said Naruto as they walked up the path. "If only we could get those girls back for that rumor. If I hadn't heard it, Hinata and I might already be together."

"On that matter, I believe I have a solution," said Neji.

"Oh really? What's that?" asked Naruto.

"I think you'll see for yourself come lunchtime." (That's right everybody. I finally got an idea for them. I hope it meets to your standards!)

In calculus, it was business as usual except that Gaara told her to pay attention during lunch time. Apparently Neji had something planned. Come chemistry however, the entire table was thick with gossip. Right after math had ended, Naruto, who had been waiting outside the class, asked Hinata if she'd like to hang out later. Hinata had managed to stammer out a yes, before the rest of them rushed her off to chemistry, because otherwise they would have been late. Hinata was all freaked out, but the rest of them assured her that it was going to be fine. Everything had been straightened out with the boys.

Ino then added, "He's probably going to ask her to be his girlfriend." Hinata nearly fainted at that. Sakura glared at Ino. "What? It's what she wanted, wasn't it? Now if only I could get the rest of our love lives on track." She sighed, presumably imagining all of the logistic difficulties she would face trying to pair up the rest of her friends.

Later, in Japanese, Hinata turned scarlet when Naruto waved to her from across the classroom. Itachi took note of this. He always thought he could use more teasing fodder for his little brother.

About midway through lunch, the girls noticed something odd. Tsunade had entered the cafeteria. "What's all that about?" asked Tenten.

"Oh. Gaara told me something was going to happen during lunchtime. At least according to Neji. Maybe this is it," said Sophia. They watched intently as Tsunade passed by them and stopped a few tables over where Karin, Michiru, Eiki, Sugako, and Nozomi.

"I'm starting to like where this is going," said Sakura. When Tsunade spoke, the entire cafeteria could hear, mostly because they had all turned to see what was going on, eager to listen in.

"Ladies. I have been given the impression that you have started a rumor about a few other young ladies at this school, is that correct?"

Karin looked terrified. "No. Where did you hear that?"

"I'm asking the questions here. But if you must know, Hyuuga Enterprise. They alerted me to the problem as the rumor included the CEO's daughter. They said that they weren't going to press charges for slander. I thought that it was incredibly generous of them." The girls visibly exhaled. "I, however, am not so generous. All five of you will be doing detention for the next month for the disgrace you have brought upon this school. Also, because of recent budget cuts, you will be acting as part of the janitorial staff for the next month." Karin opened her mouth to speak. "I don't care how important your father is. You either comply with this punishment, or I'll have to expel you! Now, you will all report to my office to find out your duties as soon as your classes are finished. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," they chorused. Tsunade strode out of the cafeteria amidst raucous applause.

"That was brilliant," said Ino, still clapping.

"Did you know about that Hinata?" asked Sakura.

"No. Neji must have told father. I need to thank him later."

"You're not the only one," said Sophia.

"I think I could manage a thank you. Just this once," said Tenten, "Even though it'll probably go to his head." She rolled her eyes.

"Still…" said Hinata, a mischievous smile spreading. "You sure that was enough?"

Over at the boys table, Neji was receiving buckets of praise. Or at least he would if his friends' vocabularies consisted of more than 'Hn.'

As soon as English class was finished, Karin packed away her things with venom. She stormed out of the class over to Tsunade's office. The rest trailed behind her. When they arrived Tsunade handed them mops and buckets, "You can start with the boys' toilets. Report back here at 5." They groaned. When they got to the first bathroom, they ran out of there screaming it was so filthy. Tsunade's voice came on over the speakers, "You're not working!" That got them moving. When they finally finished that set of bathrooms, they looked awful. (I know, how could you tell, but even worse than normal if you could imagine such a thing.) They dragged themselves from bathroom to bathroom. Tsunade came on the speakers again, "Just one more and you can go home."

They walked inside and got to work. They went to the stalls last. They smelled awful. "We'll open them all at once, then," commanded Karin. "One. Two. Three."

"AHHHHHHH!" all five girls screamed, running out of the bathroom, drenched in paint. Apparently _someone_ had rigged balloons filled with paint to drop as soon as someone opened the stalls in that bathroom. They were so busy running to Tsunade, they didn't notice the giggling coming from just around the corner.

"Tsunade-sama," screeched Karin. "Look at us!"

"I can see you quite clearly. I am not so old that I need glasses. I can also see that you've not finished cleaning that last bathroom, and you've tracked paint all the way from there to my office. I was prepared to let you go at 5 every day, but since you clearly don't take this seriously, I'll have to keep you even longer. For now, clean up the mess you've made." Karin looked as though she was about to have a fit.

**I hope you liked it. If you don't think it was enough for now, then go ahead and review more suggestions, because I loved them. naruto1305 and iluvninjas, I have to thank you for the idea of using paint on them. ^_^**

**Please review or even PM me if you don't want other people to read it because I really love hearing what you think about the story.  
**

**Anyway... Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: BrookieHyuga, iluvninjas, The Kazekage, Shadow-Ninja-Captain69, and naruto1305.  
**


	13. Stalking is a Great First Date

**So sorry everybody. I've had a rough few weeks, and then every time I went to write this chapter, I really didn't like what I wrote. I'm still a little iffy on the details. This chapter just felt really artificial and forced when I was writing it, hopefully the adorable will make up for it. Anyway ENJOY!**

"That was brilliant!" said Ino in between laughs.

"We need to do that more often," said Tenten.

"You mean dropping paint on skanks?" asked Sakura.

"Yeah!"

"Let's get out of here, before she comes back and sees us," said Sophia.

"Yeah, this little girl needs to get ready for her date," teased Ino, ruffling Hinata's hair.

An hour of picking outfits, hairdos and makeup later, not to mention what Hinata was going to wear, Naruto arrived at the door. Hinata, in a lilac sundress, waved bye and disappeared out the door. Not even 10 seconds had to pass before someone suggested they go follow them. Somehow they had nothing better to do.

The couple started their "date" by taking a walk around the park. The girls hid behind different bushes, and if they could they would have taken to the cliché of picking them up with them when they walked like a Scooby-Doo cartoon. Just as they ducked behind a swing set, Sakura ran headfirst into Sasuke.

"What are you doing here?" they both asked in unison.

"Shhhh!" commanded Ino. "Or they'll hear us." To clarify it wasn't only Sasuke and the four girls stalking Naruto and Hinata. Somehow somebody, presumably Neji, had convinced Shikamaru, Gaara, and Sasuke to go around and follow the couple.

"I think it's pretty obvious why everyone is here, now can we focus?" said Sophia, peering over the bush to see where they went. "Okay, the coast is clear, let's go." All eight of them stood up. It became clear to the lot of them that two groups of four were conspicuous enough, but a party of eight is bound to get noticed.

"What are we going to do?" asked Ino, starting to panic, he perfect plan falling apart.

Shikamaru did his concentration thinking thingie and said, "We're just going to have to split up, aren't we? Couples will probably be the least conspicuous walking around the park." Shikamaru was right of course, even though the last thing he wanted was to be stuck with a troublesome woman…

"Fine. Shikamaru, you come with me, you can help me find them," demanded Ino, and they set off.

"Gaara, you want to go together?" asked Sophia. "We should probably make sure Shikamaru doesn't strangle Ino." Gaara just laughed.

"Shikamaru wouldn't strangle Ino. That's way too much effort." And behind the swing set, only four were left. Sakura and Sasuke were in a mood that started the moment they ran into each other.

Neji peered anxiously over the hedge. "Tenten, do you mind going with me, just the thing is I want to make sure she's safe."

Tenten immediately got offended by this. "You? You want to make sure she's safe? I'm her roommate!"

"I'm her cousin!"

"What does that have to with anything?"

"I just want to make sure Naruto doesn't pull anything funny!"

"Ugh, just come on," and Tenten grabbed his hand and dragged him off, blushing slightly.

Sakura and Sasuke still refused point blank to even look at each other. After a few moments of awkward silence passed, Sakura blurted out, "I'm going with or without you. I want to see what's going on with my friend." And she stormed off without another word. Sasuke got up, and walked in their general direction.

Now, our vaguely legitimate couple strolled past a vendor who had birdseed, so Naruto ducked out from Hinata's side and bought bags for the two of them. He threw a handful out onto the pathway, and several birds swooped down from the surrounding trees to get their treats. Giggling, Hinata did the same, a little too energetically because she got some in Naruto's hair. A pigeon took the opportunity to peck ferociously at his head. Hinata managed to shoo it away and get the seeds out of Naruto's hair. She apologized furiously, getting redder every second.

"Don't worry about it. My head's thick anyways," he said. She smiled, and relaxed.

Now, onto the rest of the rather large group. Ino and Shikamaru were hiding behind a tree. Ino was dawwing the entire time. Shikamaru appeared to be sleeping, although he was really peering at Ino, at how excited she got. He smiled to himself. Ino glanced back at him. "What's so funny?" she asked, quizzically.

He smiled. "Nothing."

Sophia and Gaara were a bit more conspicuous and just walked along, straying from the path. "Naruto is such a sweetheart," she said after he had handed Hinata the seeds.

"Really? I was going to go for idiot."

She hit him playfully. "I won't deny Naruto isn't a bit thoughtless, but he's really perfect for Hinata."

"Why do you think that is?"

"I'm not so sure, but you just see how much they care about each other. They also balance each other out so well. Like Hinata does just about everything wonderfully, but has such low confidence in herself. Then there's Naruto, who screws up a lot of stuff, but still comes out smiling, not at all ashamed of himself. They both have these qualities that the other admires, and it's really sweet. Not to mention that they're both just so fun to watch." She smiled and turned back to see Naruto getting pecked by a pigeon. "See what I mean?"

"Yeah." But Gaara wasn't looking at Naruto and Hinata, not even the pigeon.

"Oh will you just shut up!" snapped Tenten. "I get it, if Naruto does anything to Hinata, you'll snap his neck. You really have absolutely no faith in your friends do you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're friends with Naruto, and yet you're so paranoid he's going to do something, you're stalking him on a date with your cousin, isn't that a bit much?"

"Why are you here then?"

"Nothing good on T.V."

"So you don't care about Hinata at all?"

"Quite the contrary. I'm completely prepared to kick Naruto's ass if he makes Hinata upset in any way, but I don't need to broadcast it to everyone in Japan." Neji scoffed. "And in any case, he seems to be doing a pretty swell job at this dating thing," she said pointing to the two of them smiling and feeding the birds. "In fact, you should probably pay attention, you might learn a thing or two."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She laughed. "Nothing."

Sakura sat on a bench facing them, smiling sadly. _"__**Wish that was you and Sasuke?**__No! Okay, yeah. Why do I always have to pick fights with him?__** Not really the person to ask. I have no idea where you get that argumentative streak.**__ You're joking right? __**What do you mean?**__ Inner, you ARE my argumentative streak."_ But Inner was interrupted by Sasuke sitting next to her on the bench.

"This seat taken?"

"It is now," but she smiled, biting back everything she'd wanted to scream at him for years, since they were little kids.

"Naruto's doing pretty well for himself, isn't he?"

"Yeah. Let's just hope he doesn't screw it up." She added bitterly. Sasuke wrinkled his eyebrows in confusion, but kept quiet.

Naruto and Hinata, after they emptied their bags, continued down the path and walked several blocks down to a restaurant. The other eight met up outside the restaurant.

"What now?" asked Gaara.

"I don't know about anyone else, but I'm pretty hungry." As all of them were pretty hungry, they went inside, careful so as not to be spotted by Naruto and Hinata. They ended up sitting at two four person tables. Ino, Shikamaru, Sasuke, and Sakura at one table, Gaara, Sophia, Tenten, and Neji at the other. As would be expected from Naruto and Hinata, the restaurant's specialty was ramen.

"I can't choose between this Miso and this Shoyu," said Sophia.

"Why don't I order the Miso, and you get the Shoyu, and we'll mix and match," suggested Gaara.

"Ooh that'd be great, if you don't mind."

At the other table, Ino was the only one talking, Sasuke and Sakura were still being awkward, and Shikamaru was asleep. Even though her audience wasn't listening, Ino still chattered on about how well Naruto and Hinata's date was going. It was going really well. They were laughing and having a great time. It was however, a completely different story where Sakura was going. She longed to be anywhere but there. She felt bad because this day was supposed to be for Hinata, not for her problems with Sasuke. Still, just sitting across from him made her blood boil.

Neji and Tenten were trying to pick out spicier ramen recipes, saying that the other was too weak to withstand the heat. They ended up picking the spiciest ramen in the restaurant and adding enough pepper to it to permanently lose the sense of taste.

If Naruto was the only one he was thinking about, the date would have gone on forever with the two of them just eating ramen until they ran out of money. After finishing just one bowl of ramen each, they paid and left.

"The eagle has flown the coop!" shouted Ino to the other table in a would-be whisper.

Everyone laughed. "What does that even mean, Ino-pig?" asked Sakura.

Ino replied with equal fervor, "Maybe you could figure it out if your forehead wasn't so much like a bill-board. Anyway, we need to get got, Naruto and Hinata left." They followed Naruto and Hinata to a cinema. "Dawww. Dinner and a movie. That's so cute!"

"Or you know, cliché," muttered Neji.

"There's a reason clichés become clichés, they work well," retorted Tenten.

"As long as it isn't a chick flick, then whatever," said Neji.

"Oh god yes. If I have to hear one more gorgeous 20-something whine about how her love life supposedly sucks, I'll shoot myself."

Thankfully, nobody had to take a gun to the temple, Naruto and Hinata chose to watch a horror movie. Well less horror, more psychological thriller, but you get the point. Hinata and Naruto chose seats towards the front, but the other eight grabbed the very top row of seats.

Naruto and Hinata were the ideal (cliché) couple. During the scary parts Hinata buried her head in Naruto's chest. In a totally not cheesy manner, Naruto put his arm around her shoulders. When he did that, Neji choked on a piece of popcorn and Tenten had to hit him on the back. Ino complained in loud whispers to Shikamaru throughout the entire movie while he slept. Sophia kept placing Gaara's hand over her eyes when the music started getting suspenseful, but peeked through the fingers anyway. Gaara tried hard not to laugh. Sakura and Sasuke said nothing the entire time and managed to forget the other was there, until they both reached for a handful of popcorn at the same time. Then they both refused to eat any more popcorn for the rest of the night.

The credits started to roll and all ten of them got up to leave when Tenten remembered, "Shit. I need to hurry up and get out of here or Hinata's going to come back to our place, and I'm not going to be there." This was tricky business as they had to avoid being seen and get past them at the same time. Luckily, Hinata and Naruto walked at a snail's pace, so the eight of them went around a few blocks and still managed to get to the dorms first.

"Bye guys! See you tomorrow!" said Sophia when they left for their separate rooms.

"Hey, do you think they're finally gone?" asked Naruto.

"I think so," said Hinata.

"Good." Naruto grabbed her hands and kissed her. "I like you, Hinata. A lot."

Once she recovered from the shock, her face split into a huge grin. "I like you too, Naruto. A lot." They walked back holding hands in comfortable silence.

**Okay so we have one couple together, hopefully we can get the rest of them soon. Sakura was being pretty angsty during this chapter and I'm planning on addressing that soon. The next update will be much sooner I promise. **

**Also I recently got a bunch of followers which I am really thankful for. I'm glad so many people are enjoying the story so thanks everybody!**

**Thanks to: BrookieHyuga, iluvninjas, Annerizu-san, Shadow-Ninja-Captain69, naruto1305, The Kazekage of Suna, narutofreak2001, and iheartKonan210965. I can't say how much it means to me to get feedback, so keep the reviews coming!**


	14. Sleepover Hijinks

**Okay guys new Chapter in honor of Valentine's Day! There is a reason for why this is so late. It is posted down below because I don't want to make you wait any longer. **

"I think I'm going to throw up," said Tenten.

"Oh lighten up. They're a young couple totally in love," remarked Ino.

Naruto and Hinata became the most obnoxious couple on the face of the planet overnight. At first it was cute the way Naruto walked with Hinata in between classes, even ones they didn't have together. Then when Hinata brought homemade ramen for them to share, there wasn't a dry eye in the cafeteria. Both of them were big balls of sunshine, holding hands and smiling. Well you could see how annoying that would get.

"I think I'm going to join you, Tenten," said Sakura, standing up to leave the cafeteria.

"They aren't even sitting with us today. I would have thought you'd get a good laugh about how uncomfortable the boys must be," said Sophia. "Considering we had to deal with that yesterday. Why we spent Wednesday night following them, I'll never know. We can't get enough of them now."

"Hey, if you three had boyfriends, you probably wouldn't mind so much," said Ino.

"You're just as single as the rest of us, so why are you so chipper?" asked Tenten.

"I'm just not as shallow as the rest of you." One look of raised eyebrows dismissed that fantasy. "Fine. If Naruto and Hinata are dating then that means that everyone else will be distracted by how annoying they are, and they won't notice my plans to take over the world. MWA HA HA HA." Another look of disbelief from her friends. "They're just cute. It's like watching a real life Korean Drama. Painfully embarrassing at some points where you have to look away from the screen, now for example, but ultimately you enjoy it."

Later in Gym, the girls were playing dodgeball while the boys played soccer outside. During dodgeball, Hinata got hit, and the entire game stopped while everyone stared at the doors to see if Naruto was going to run in to comfort her. By this point, no one would have been surprised if he had.

When English class was over, the girls started discussing what they were going to do that weekend. Order pizza and have a movie marathon, never change out of pjs and just sit around doing nothing, go shopping, a 5K run, (I think you know who suggested those last two.) Then Hinata said, "Oh, Naruto and I were thinking about spending the weekend together." Privately, everyone was thinking, _"What else is new?"_

However, Sophia chose to say this, "But Hinata, if you're not there with us, we'll never remember to do our homework. And then we'll fail, get expelled and become hobos. The next time you see us will be on the side of the road begging for spare change." She got onto her knees for the next part. "Oh PLEASE HANG OUT WITH US HINATA! PLEASE!" Cue fake sobbing.

Sakura picked up Sophia off the ground with the same fake look of hurt. "Come on, Sophia. Let's get out of here. Hinata's clearly in a different class of people now. And we have to start practicing our drunken swagger." With a dramatic flourish, those two left the room, Ino and Tenten close behind.

"Uhhhmmmm. Maybe you could hang out with me and the girls?" suggested Hinata.

"OOH! I have an idea!"

Later that evening: "Hinata, where are we going?" asked an irritated Tenten.

"You'll see soon enough," she chirped back.

Soon enough, they arrived at a large house. It wasn't quite a mansion per say, but it was pretty damn huge. Hinata led them inside the darkened foyer. Suddenly, Naruto called out, "Hinata, the door!" The sound of the lock clicking reverberated around the spacious room.

"Seriously Hinata, what the hell is going on?" demanded Tenten.

The lights clicked on. It was a large, open, carpeted space with what little furniture it contained pressed against the walls. In the middle of the room sat five guys. (You know who they are.)

"If I have to ask again, Hinata, Naruto gets it."

Naruto looked petrified at the prospect, but said in a reasonably calm voice, "We thought that we could spend the weekend together, so that we wouldn't neglect anyone. Hinata and I can spend time together while still spending the time with all of you. Oh. And don't try to escape. All of the doors, and windows are locked."

"He's telling the truth," said Neji. "We checked…"

"All of them except for the front door…" muttered Sasuke, bitterly. "Shikamaru here said it was too obvious to be unlocked." Shikamaru was already asleep and took absolutely no notice.

"Okay. But what I don't understand is what you expect us to do?" asked Ino.

"Exactly what you were planning on doing before. We can still order pizza and watch movies," said Hinata.

"And then sneak past the pizza man," said Shikamaru.

"I thought you were asleep!" said Naruto.

"It's too troublesome to be asleep in this situation." And he put his head back down on the floor. Everyone facepalmed.

"Okay. Well you can still hang out in your pajama's." suggested Naruto.

"Not the ones Ino wears…" said Sakura. Shikamaru's eyes flickered open, if for only just a moment.

Sophia just sighed and sat down next to Gaara. The girls just stared at her like she was crazy. "What? I figure we're not going to get out of this that easily so we might as well give up. I'm also not in the mood to hear you guys bicker. But go ahead. I'm going to talk to Gaara."

This kind of took the fighting spirit out of them, so they consented to sit down as well. After some debate, someone suggested that they play normal teenage games like truth or dare or would you rather. It was also suggested that they play spin the bottle, but Tenten said she would knock out anyone who suggested it again.

"Hinata, truth or dare?" asked Naruto.

"Truth."

"Most embarrassing moment." She went really red. "Okay. If you want, I'll go first," he said, calming her obvious anxiety.

"How will he be able to pick?" muttered Tenten to Ino.

"Hmmm."

"Wouldn't it have been that time you and Sasuke kissed?" suggested Ino.

Naruto turned red, and Sasuke blanched, his teeth grinding almost imperceptibly.

Sophia, who had never heard the story, laughed. "When was this?"

Ino started laughing too. "It was back in Jr. High, someone bumped into Naruto and they kissed."

"Awww. Was that your first kiss?"

To her surprise, neither Sasuke nor Naruto answered, not even Ino, who would have gladly gossiped her heart away. "Doubt it. _Prince_ Sasuke had all the girls lined up at his feet," remarked Sakura. "Isn't it funny how his Royal Majesty, is cheaper than a 50 cent hooker?"

The scene quickly turned tense, as all of those unsaid words between everybody filled the room with a silent buzzing. Quick glances between the culprits said they weren't going to be the people to do anything about it. Sophia wasn't really sure whether she was going to say anything, she felt like some of it wasn't even her business, but someone had to say anything. As she opened her mouth, she was surprised again to hear that Sasuke had the voice to speak after all, though she didn't much like what he had to say.

"So what's your problem, really? Is it that you actually think I'm that much of a slut, or are you just upset that you weren't one of them?"

Sakura started trembling. She didn't turn to Sasuke, but to Naruto and asked, "Where's the bathroom?" It was clear she was taking every effort to make sure her voice was calm and steady. After Naruto told her how to get there, she got up, her steps kept an even, but brisk pace. When they heard the door close, just a bit too gently, Sophia got to her feet. She walked over to Sasuke, grim determination in her face, and just behind that, rage. She decided she didn't care whether it was her business or not. She slapped him.

"What the hell was that for?"

The girls started to speak. "Ino, please let me finish this without any interruption." And the intensity in her voice stopped even Ino from continuing. "I have a problem with people who treat my friends like that," she replied, fiercely staring him down.

"She started it! What the hell was she on about, anyway?"

"It's not my business to tell you, it's hers and if you can't figure it out by now, then telling you won't make much difference, not yet anyway."

"So I'm stupid now, too?"

"From where I'm sitting, I'd have to say, yeah. I mean we all know you like her. From what I can tell, and I just got here, you do care about her, _a lot._ And how exactly do you treat her? Like the same string of floozies that you've ripped through like Christmas presents. Just another chick to burn through. To you, she's disposable."

Sasuke was visibly wounded. It took him a while to speak, and even then it was croaky, "She isn't disposable."

Sophia started to cool down a little bit on the inside, because she knew he did genuinely feel bad, but she wasn't done, so she almost hissed, "Then act like it."

Sasuke seemed to be having an internal discussion, and when he was done, he seemed a lot smaller than when he had been yelling. "So is that her problem with me?" he whispered.

Sophia's resolve almost cracked there. He really was a sad. pitiable, confused boy, no different from all of those 'nerds,' all of those social outcasts without any confidence, the kind she'd been friends with all her life. He wasn't any different, not really. All she wanted to do was crouch down and hug him and say, _"It'll all be okay, dear. We can work it out."_ But out of the two, Sakura was the one she was to side with and there was no changing now. "No. That's _my_ problem with you. Work up to deserving to hear what she has to say about it."

Sasuke swallowed uncomfortably the way you do when you eat something really dry without any water. "What do I do?"

"I'm done now. If you guys want to talk about it, go ahead, but I'm checking on Sakura." She got up and walked down the same corridor Sakura had a few minutes earlier. Tenten and Hinata followed pursuit, glancing back at Sasuke, mixtures of reproach and pity. Ino looked like she really wanted to have been the one to set Sasuke with that verbal thrashing, and considered very hard, whether or not she should have a go now, or go check on Sakura. She settled on glaring intensely at Sasuke as she walked out. Sasuke paid no notice, his head was sitting in his hands. And none of the others said anything. None of them were really the talking type.

By the time Ino had caught up with the rest of them, Hinata was apologizing, saying this was a bad idea, and that they could go home, if they wanted to. Sakura wasn't crying. She seemed wrapped in several layers of soundproof air, and anything anyone said had to be repeated a few times to get a response.

"It's okay, we can stay. I just need a minute to calm down."

Sophia spoke next. "I also wanted to apologize. It wasn't any of my business, and I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"The yelling… Didn't you hear?"

"Not really…"

Tenten explained it, "Sophia really tore up Sasuke. We were all going to have a go at him ourselves, and I have to say I'm upset I didn't get there first. First, she slapped him…" Sophia was deflating the more Tenten spoke.

"I guess he deserved it," she said, but she wasn't really sure of herself.

"No," said Sophia. She felt incredulous. "You know, I probably won't ever say this to Sasuke, but he doesn't deserve this. This game you keep playing between having a massive crush on him and hating his guts. No matter what you are afraid he might do if you ever got together, he doesn't deserve it. The way you hate on him like that. And maybe it isn't my business to say anything now either, but I don't like seeing him in pain anymore than you. And believe it or not, he was hurt by the things you said. He can't just walk away the way you did. And there will be another time for talking about societal and gender constructs, so when you bait him like that, justifiable or not, he's going to say something back, probably just as hurtful. So unless you want to keep crying in bathrooms and ripping each other's heads off every time you see the other, maybe you should cut him some slack. And if you can't do that, then get over him. Find someone else if you can't deal with your trust issues."

Sakura looked genuinely shocked, as if the notion that Sasuke could be really hurt by anything she said didn't occur to her. Then the remorse set in as every awful thing she'd thought about him washed over her. Sophia didn't need to physically slap Sakura to get the effect of it. Hinata felt as though Sophia had hit the nail on the head, but would have never said so herself. Tenten looked torn between not wanting to hurt Sakura further, but agreeing that something needed to change. Ino, looked livid and was just waiting for a cue from Sakura before she would start yelling at Sophia. She had been generally silent all night which was a huge feat for her.

"Hit me," said Sophia

"What?" Sakura asked, confused.

"Yeah, seriously, what?" asked Ino.

"If you're angry, hit me. I deserve it," Sophia said, not meeting Sakura's eyes.

Ino started to move forward as if to say 'if she doesn't do it, I will.'

"No. You're right." All of the heads turned, Ino, mere inches from Sophia's face, laying in wait, Sophia, panning up from the floor, and Hinata and Tenten waiting to see if Ino would hit Sophia or not. "I've wasted too much time on him. I think it's time I started looking for someone new." The relief on everyone's faces was instantaneous. Smiles broke out between them all and they started laughing and hugging each other. It was a consensus. Sakura needed to move on, and they were going to help her do it.

When the girls returned from the bathroom in high spirits, giggling away, the boys were very much taken aback. They had spent the last 10 minutes or so in solemn silence, not daring to look at one another.

"I'm hungry," declared Sophia, as she plopped down into her previous seat. "Gaara, does that burger place deliver?"

"OOH! We have ramen!" yelled Naruto, who had previously not spoken very much, which was just as odd as Ino not speaking.

"Do you want me to cook you some?" asked Hinata, slipping her hand into his.

"YES!" Everyone couldn't help but laugh. The two left for the kitchen; Hinata, so that she could cook, and Naruto so he could tell her exactly what he wanted to put in.

"So what do we want to do?" asked Tenten.

"We could do make—" Ino started.

"NO!" everyone chorused back.

"What about a game?" said Gaara.

"Like poker?" suggested Neji.

"Ooh. I love poker!" said Sophia.

"You can win at poker, right?" asked Tenten. When everyone nodded, she said, "Alright, I'm in."

Sasuke went to go get cards and chips since he knew where they were. And they began to play. Neji was raking in the chips. Sasuke and Gaara were just below even. Shikamaru folded most of the time, but on the rare occasions he didn't fold during the first round of betting, he won big. Ino and Sakura were terrible, as they had never played poker before. Sophia was probably second, winning a few rounds with just Neji as they kept raising the other. Tenten was dead last. She couldn't bear the idea of folding and minimizing losses. She kept betting too high, and didn't know how to bluff in the least. She had the mindset of wanting to win so bad it was stopping her from doing it.

About halfway through, Naruto and Hinata came back with the ramen, so Sakura, Ino, Gaara and Sasuke left to go eat. "Don't you want to eat?" Gaara asked Sophia.

"Yeah, but I really want to keep playing."

"But you were the one who said you were hungry in the first place."

"I know. I'll eat once we're done."

"Okay. Here, have my chips and kick Neji's ass."

"Oh, Neji isn't the one to worry about. See he's going to lose his pile of money much faster than you think. Shikamaru is the one to watch out for. He's really sneaky."

Gaara frowned, not really getting it. "If you says so." And he leaned over, pushing his chips into her pile. It was then she really saw his eyes. They were, as she initially saw, ringed with dark shadows that only years of insomnia could bring, but the blue. They were such an intense blue, she almost recoiled. They didn't quite fit into that tired face. They were the eyes of someone much younger longing to get out of that cage of depression that Gaara had been living in since he was a child. She smiled at him and took the chips, but the rest of the night, she couldn't help darting back to his face and staring at those eyes when he wasn't facing her way.

Ino and Sakura seemed to feel that Tenten needed all the help she could get so they donated their meager supply of chips to her. Sasuke preferred to bet on who he thought the winner would be, so he gave his chips to Neji, whispering what Sophia heard as, "Kick her ass."

Tenten was getting more and more ill-tempered with every chip she lost. When she finally whittled away everything until her last two chips, just enough for a blind, Ino made a proposition. "Look at this fine, young, sexy specimen." Cue staring. "Tenten may be the hottest girl in the entire school, not including myself of course. Don't you think so Neji?"

Neji, to his own fury, turned scarlet. He looked everywhere but at Ino or Tenten. "Huh? No. I mean. I guess?"

"Of course she is. And you know, a sexy woman like her, would just LOVE to keep playing poker, wouldn't she? So. How's about this? She gives you a kiss, and you give her half your chips?"

"NO!" cried Tenten. Neji remained suspiciously silent.

"Fine," said Ino, a little too casually. "I guess you'll just have to lose." Tenten began to glare at her.

"Fine. As long as Neji's okay with it."

Neji began to blush all over again. "Uhhh." There was no way he could say no to an offer like this. He would surely win it all back, and then there was the chance of kissing Tenten, who pretty much everyone knew he wanted to throw on a table and screw. (Very romantic right?) "Okay," he agreed, trying not to sound too excited.

Tenten told him to close his eyes. She leaned down and pecked him on the lips. Before Neji could object, she was already pulling half his chips towards her pile. She gave him a huge grin. Neji felt taken advantage of.

Neji began gambling much more recklessly than in his previous hands, and in one round when he went all in, Sophia called, and took it all. "Don't look at me like that. No kiss from you is going to get me to give you any of my chips," Sophia joked at him.

Tenten lost it all just a few hands after Neji. It was just down to Shikamaru and Sophia. "Told you Gaara," she said.

It all came down to a final hand. Sophia had a full house. They kept raising by tiny increments. "You know what Shikamaru, I'm just going to go all in on this. I'm pretty hungry, so let's just finish this now." He took his thinking stance and called. Sophia revealed her hand as everyone oohed. Then she looked to him as he put his cards down to reveal four of a kind. She smiled and pushed the chips towards him. "Good game."

"That was very troublesome."

"Thanks. Hinata, do you think you could get me some ramen. I am really hungry."

Gaara sat down next to her. "I really thought you were going to win, once Neji was out of the picture."

"Meh. Like I said, Shikamaru is the real mastermind. Mmmmm. Hinata, you made this all by yourself? This is sooo good."

"I HELPED," yelled Naruto in between mouthfuls of ramen, which he had been eating for the past hour. Hinata just blushed and nodded.

She pushed the bowl away from her when she was finished and laid her head on Gaara's lap. She closed her eyes and listened to the chatter. There seemed to be a lull in the conversation, so she looked up. "What's up?" she asked when she realized everyone was staring at her.

"You two need a room?" asked Ino.

"What?"

"You're practically on top of each other."

"Ohhh. Sorry. Sorry Gaara, if that made you uncomfortable. At my school, personal space between friends wasn't a thing, and I definitely laid on peoples laps and more, without any kind of sexual connotation too it. Awkward. Sorry. I'll try not to if it makes you feel weird…"

"No. It's okay," said Gaara, sheepishly. And he pulled her back onto his lap. She squirmed around to make herself more comfy. Gaara started to stroke her hair.

Ino just rolled her matchmaking eyes. She had made progress on all the couples today. All except for her and Shikamaru, but of course, she didn't see him that way. Not consciously anyway. She figured Gaara and Sophia would progress just fine on their own. There was enough sexual tension between Tenten and Neji, that they just need a few more nudges to be on their way. But Sakura and Sasuke, they were in a whole different class. Maybe Sophia was right. Maybe they shouldn't be together.

**Okay so I have written and re-written this chapter WAY too many times and I'm still not too happy with it. But I have kept it from you for too long. **

**Okay. I am really tired so for everyone who has reviewed, followed, or favorited my story I want to say a huge thank you! And I want to say an even HUGER apology. I'm getting ready for exams so I can't say that I'll be updating regularly, but I have a few chapters almost finished, I just have to finish them all so that I know I've put in everything I need to. **

**OH AND PLEASE REVIEW! **


	15. Sleepover Day 2: Scantily Clad much?

**Hey guys... I'm actually updating! Okay so a couple things. I have not read through this chapter so if it sucks tell me and I'll rewrite it. I'm not the happiest with it so one review and I'll go back and make it better. Also be ready for more poker. Also, I know I kind of messed with Sasuke last chapter, but I just kind of wanted to for this chapter... OKAY PLEASE ENJOY**

Finally, it was lunchtime. Sophia was so desperate to sit down and eat. She saw everyone sitting together, laughing as some unheard joke as she approached. As each of her friends saw her, their expressions faltered. She sat down, despite all of her instincts screaming. The conversation continued, perhaps not with as much levity as before, but Sophia calmed down enough to speak. She made some half-deprecating remark about Kakashi's habit of reading erotic novels.

"Why do you think we care what you think?" snapped Sasuke.

Sophia's forehead creased in confusion. "What?"

"God, what a bitch," whispered Sakura to Ino, taking care that it was loud enough for her to hear.

"I don't get it."

"Maybe if you stopped acting like such a bitch to everyone, you'd get it," said Hinata.

"Just go back to America," said Gaara, looking up from the table to glare at her with thin yellow eyes.

She woke up from another one of her anxiety dreams. This one wasn't entirely new, she'd had dreams about her friends hating her and saying much worse things for years, but this was the first one with her friends from Japan.

Everybody had gone to sleep not long after the poker game. The boys (and Tenten and Sophia because they were adamant about being just as strong as the boys) had grabbed mattresses and laid them on the floor where everyone had just collapsed under blankets and comforters. Eventually the talk had died out as everyone drifted off.

Gaara felt a small hand gently shake his shoulder. He opened his eyes. Sophia was glad to see they were their normal blue. "Hey," she whispered.

"Hey."

"Can we talk?"

He nodded and they tiptoed off the mattresses off into a hallway.

"What's up?" he asked, checking her face to see if she was okay.

He was surprised when she asked, "How's Sasuke?"

"What?"

"Sasuke. Is he okay?"

"Yeah… Sophia, what's this about?"

"I occasionally say stupid things that I regret afterwards. This may be one of those times…"

"He doesn't hate you. Trust me. He's just—," but she didn't let him finish the sentence.

"I don't care if he hates me. Plenty of people do already. It's not like a new thing. Just. I want to make sure he's fine.

"I know Sasuke pretty well, and his ego may be bruised a bit, but he'll be fine. I just hope he actually takes your advice. But what did you mean, 'plenty of people do already?'"

Sophia took in a deep breath and breathed out slowly, as if steadying herself for something. "I don't know if you've noticed it or not, but I'm kind of a terrible person." Gaara made a small noise of dissent, but she continued. "I am a bitch. I don't want you to disagree, because you've known me for what, two weeks? I am a mean person. I say things to people that they find offensive. I'm loud and opinionated and I'm not subtle about it at all. I cut cords and ties to people that I care about for really small unimportant things. And even if I wasn't like that, plenty of people hate me anyway. I can't say it doesn't bother me, but that doesn't stop it from happening."

"But—"

"Don't try and justify me. There is nothing you can say that can make me feel okay about those things. You probably get that better than anyone else here. Is there anything I'd be able to say to you to get you to stop feeling guilty?"

"No."

"It's okay Gaara. I'll be fine." She walked out of the hallway and back down to bed. She lay there, trying to block out the barrage of words that came to her in times of anxiety and insomnia, trying to tell herself that was she said to Sasuke was the right thing. It wasn't very successful.

Gaara stayed in the hallway a few minutes digesting everything. It wasn't as though he was surprised. He knew that her life sucked and that she probably got a lot of shit for being who she was. But the way she talked about it. Like it was inevitable. Like eventually, even her friends would hate her too. Of course, he was afraid of that too, of losing all of the people who meant so much to him. But Gaara thought of it as a fear, not an eventuality. He went back bed, but he slept as much as Sophia did.

The next day everyone was getting up to eat breakfast. Sophia heard Hinata, the first of them, get up and go to the kitchen, presumably starting on breakfast. She decided to go help her, since having something to do usually helped her anxiety.

"What are you doing up so early?" Hinata asked her when she stepped into the kitchen.

"I woke up a bit before you," she lied. "I just didn't have the initiative to start breakfast, but since you're here, I figure I should help out. What are we making?"

Hinata looked like she wanted to say something. Sophia's lies could fool most people, but not people who knew firsthand the thoughts that plagued minds like hers. But Hinata just smiled. "Chocolate chip pancakes. We should probably get everyone as much sugar as possible so they don't murder us for waking them up."

"Good idea." And they set to work on the batter, then the actual cooking, which Sophia left to Hinata, since she always burned pancakes. In the meantime, she decided to quietly wake people one by one, starting with the least threatening and working her way up to Tenten. Gaara once again felt Sophia's hand shake him awake, but this time he wasn't sleeping. He stirred, doing his best imitation of a sleeping person waking. Too bad Sophia didn't fall for it. "What's wrong?" she hissed, making sure no one would hear them.

"What do you mean?"

"You so weren't just sleeping. Did something happen?"

"Don't worry about it. I woke up a bit before now, I just didn't want you to think I was lazy by not immediately getting up."

She squinted and pursed her lips. If they weren't surrounded by people she might press on. A few years ago she certainly would have. But she held her tongue and nodded. "Hinata's making chocolate chip pancakes. You should go grab a plate."

She considered waking Naruto next. He would surely be easy to deal with, the only thing was that he would wake everyone else up. So she moved on to Shikamaru next. He was so used to people waking him up that he wouldn't be that angry. He'd just mutter that she was being troublesome. Which is exactly what he did. She just sighed.

Now Sasuke. She pondered the query for a bit. Gaara returned with his pancakes and upon seeing her dilemma, leaned down over Sasuke's ear and whispered something into it. He immediately jumped to his feet cursing. Gaara and Sophia fought hard to keep from laughing. She nudged her head toward Neji, suggesting he wake him up too. Gaara pulled the same trick on Neji, making Neji's forehead twitch with anger when he realized what was going on.

Sophia bent over Sakura and said, "Sakura dear, it's time to get up." She frowned and sat up. "Here's a plus though. Hinata made chocolate chip pancakes." Sakura's face didn't exactly light up, but considering her half-conscious condition it was pretty encouraging. Sophia then took a cue from Gaara and whispered into Ino's ear. It was pretty risky, but desperate times called for desperate measures. "Shopping." Ino's eyes opened like lightning. Sophia quickly put her hand over her mouth, before she could start yelling about shopping. Sophia spoke quickly, "There are chocolate chip pancakes in the kitchen." Ino looked downcast, hoping they could go shopping soon no doubt, but she moved on decently enough.

Sophia then moved onto Tenten, looking to see if there were any immediate weapons in the vicinity. She couldn't see any, but that didn't mean Tenten didn't have one concealed somewhere. "Tenten." Tenten growled. "There's a competition going on." Her eyes flashed open. "We're all eating pancakes. I'm so sure you're going to win, I gave them all a head start, give you a challenge you know." Tenten was out of her blankets and into the kitchen so fast, Sophia hadn't even had time to blink.

The only one left was Naruto. Sophia decided to leave him to Hinata. He'd be happiest seeing her first thing anyway. So when Hinata was finally done making pancakes, she carried a plate of them to him and kissed him awake. At first he looked confused but when he saw her he beamed. All the girls internally awed, well all except for Tenten, who was still shoveling down pancakes, taking no notice that no one else was competing. Neji pointedly looked away from Naruto and Hinata.

Sophia and Gaara yawned. Ino noticed a little too much. "You two look like you didn't sleep at all last night. What could have kept you up all night?" she asked, too innocently. "Unless." He mouth opened into a comical 'o.' She smiled confidentially. "Oh. Nevermind." She winked as Sophia to say, 'You'll tell me all about it later.'

Sophia was of course supremely irritated with everyone assuming things about her and Gaara. They were really good friends and that was _ALL_. "Ino, you better stop insinuating things about people that you know full well didn't happen or I'll never go shopping with you again."And then just to make sure her comment stung as well as threatened. "_And_ I haven't got a single winter accessory." Ino looked as though she might burst into tears, but Sophia stared her down.

"Okay fine. You and Gaara aren't together, but they're hasn't been anything interesting going on since those two got together." She gestured her head backwards, indicating Hinata and Naruto who were now feeding each other pancakes. Tenten was right; they were vomit inducing.

"Thank you." Sophia had been too busy staring down Ino to notice the pitying looks Gaara had gotten from Sasuke, Neji, and Shikamaru who had looked up from laying on the table just for that purpose. Gaara had been publicly friendzoned. Gaara rolled his eyes because outwardly he agreed with Sophia. He felt that they were just friends, but deep down he knew he wanted to have done all of the things Ino had just implied he had.

Sophia was a different matter. She did like Gaara. She wasn't denying it at all. She just didn't realize it yet. And it'd take something pretty significant to show her that she did. It was like walking past a bush everyday for years and subconsciously you knew it was there, but it took someone shoving you into it for you to realize that it was a rose bush. It wasn't like you though it was a blackberry bush or any other kind of bush, you just hadn't really thought about it. And when you metaphorically get shoved in that rose bush it's like DUH! Of course it's a rose bush, how did I not see that before? And that's how Sophia felt.

"I WON!" Tenten yelled.

"Damn!" Sophia said, continuing the rouse. "I really thought I might have a chance."

"Well you thought wrong! NO ONE CAN DEFEAT TENTEN!"

Neji picked this point to butt in, "Really? Because you lost at poker last night, twice." Ino, Sakura and Sophia exhaled, annoyed at Neji's lack of tact.

"I'LL TAKE YOU ON ANYTIME, ANYWHERE!" Tenten asserted. The girls sighed again, clearly having hoped the day would have started better than this.

Ino thought quickly and decided with all the cunning of a skilled and practiced match-maker. "Why don't we all play, and this time we'll raise the stakes a little?"

Sophia spoke up. "I don't really have that much money, what kind of stakes are you proposing?"

Ino laughed, that fake laugh of hers that was really an evil plan laugh disguised as the breathy laugh of a teenage girl. "I think that money won't really provide the proper motivation." Everyone was looking at Ino, even Shikamaru. "I suggest that we play a game of strip poker."

"INO!" yelled Sophia, Sakura and Tenten. The boys were suspiciously silent. It seemed quite convenient to them that most of the girls weren't that good at poker.

"What? Tenten, you seem pretty confident that you'll win, so you shouldn't have a problem. Sophia, you nearly won last time, so you don't have anything to worry about. And Sakura, you and I have nothing to be ashamed of."

Tenten was convinced, and when Tenten was convinced it was hard to make her see sense, so everyone grudgingly (though some less grudgingly than others) started setting up the game. By this point Hinata and Naruto found out what was going on. Hinata didn't really want to play. So she and Naruto just sat with their friends.

Now in this version, clothes couldn't be given back, only taken away. Different articles of clothing were worth the same. This made nearly everyone go grab a sweater or extra socks.

They started off with small bets. Neji won the first round, making everyone take off a sock. Then Gaara took a hand, off came off the other sock. Sophia took the next hand and almost everyone took off their sweater. (All of these excluded Shikamaru of course because he folded early) Gradually, people began folding in the first round to avoid removing more clothes. After a few hands Ino and Sakura shirtless. The round after Sakura took off her top, leaving her wearing just a lacy pink bra and pajama pants, Sasuke lost not only the shirt off his back, causing loud whoops from the crowd, but his pants too, making him an automatic forfeit. For, despite playing strip poker, nobody really wanted to go so far as to remove their underwear, not even Ino. And Shikamaru was certainly distracted by Ino's purple bra with black lace on the cups. Well, as distracted as Shikamaru could get. His eyes certainly frequented her a bit more than usual. Ino was shrewd when it came to other people, and she was usually pretty correct when it came to herself. She knew when a guy was flirting with her, and could expertly flirt back, but Shikamaru was another entity. He wasn't like the other guys, so when she caught his gaze on her, she wasn't as sure as she would have been if it was someone else.

Ino and Sakura lost soon after that. Tenten had actually managed to keep her top and bottom on so far. Gaara had lost his shirt. It had been met with loud applause and wolf whistles. Ino noticed Sophia's eyes looking up and down his bare chest. She smirked, but was surprised when Sophia opened her mouth in imitation of some fangirls and said, "Oh Gaara darling! Take me now!" She said this with theatrical flourish of course. Everyone laughed, everyone except Ino, who was muttering darkly about being _this close._

Then Neji took off his shirt. Token appreciation, and amidst the hoots, Tenten could be heard yelling, "Yeah! WORK IT FABIO!" Complete silence for an instant that stretched a bit too long, before everyone in the room split double over with laughter. Not Neji of course, he was blanching under the embarrassment. But if Neji wasn't mistaken Tenten was glancing up from her cards to look at him far more often than was necessary. He smirked. Tenten thought this meant he was bluffing, so she called him. It may have been one of the more satisfying depantsings anyone had seen in a while.

Tenten and Sophia faced each other in the next two rounds. Shikamaru just let them take care of each other. Tenten took off her top in the first round, then Sophia. Cue gratuitous explanation of their lingerie. Tenten wore a plain green bra. (But don't be fooled. This was no ordinary bra. THIS WAS MAGIC BRA! It had come all the way from… Okay, so it was an ordinary bra. But those boobs could have been covered in garbage and just use your imagination. *SLAP* You didn't have to imagine that much!) Neji's face went bright red. If he wasn't the kind of person to master himself, his nose might have started bleeding. When Sophia had to strip, she got it over quickly. She was wearing a plain red bra. Not cherry red. It was like Gaara's hair. Ino was pleased to see Gaara beginning to turn the color of the bra. No one could hear it of course, but there was also a soft rumbling in his chest that increased in intensity when he looked at her.

The next round would settle of it. Both Sophia and Tenten had one item of clothing left. Sophia looked down at her cards, four of a kind. She looked up to see Tenten looking at her cards with such intensity. Sophia decided to give her this victory. "I fold."

"YES!" cried Tenten. So Sophia took off her black sweatpants, revealing matching red underpants and a large section of scars on her thigh. She decided she was going to pretend no one was looking at it. Gaara was the only one who had actually seen it. The girls had heard about it and didn't think it would be nearly so bad. The guys had even less of an idea. Gaara glanced down at her thigh. All of the fresh scars from before had healed up now, and there weren't any new ones. He sighed internally. She hadn't self-harmed in at least a week, maybe more. Ignoring the badly concealed gawping, Sophia sat down with all the other defeated to watch Tenten and Shikamaru face it off.

Shikamaru thought in his 'o' stance. Everyone was rooting for Tenten and it would be troublesome if she lost. He couldn't forfeit outright, or it would be just as bad. He must let Tenten think she won fairly. He suspected that's what Sophia had done. Sophia. Hmmm. Those scars were a puzzling new addition his collection of thoughts about the new girl. He decided to put it away and do as she did. In three hands he lost all of his clothes, except for his plain black boxers.

Tenten jumped up, so happy in her triumph. She gloated in Neji's face that she could indeed win at poker. This wasn't strictly true, but she did beat Neji fair and square.

Once people finished pulling their clothes back on, Naruto asked, "Does anyone want to go swimming? We have an outdoor swimming pool with a diving board and everything."

"But we don't have any swimsuits," said Hinata.

"Oh that's not a problem. My mom (Tsunade) has a whole closet full of them." The girls gave him a look like, 'there's no way in hell anything Tsunade-sama has could possibly work for them.' "Just look. You'll see." And he pointed the girls up the stairs and down several hallways. Naruto's house was more and more massive the more they walked through it.

Now that Sophia thought about it, pretty much every one of her new friends was rich. Clearly Naruto was, and the Hyuuga's have to have some power to do what Neji's done. And then Sasuke had to be rich, they way he acts so entitled. Ino was either stupid or rich judging by the way she spent money on clothes and such. Since she wasn't stupid, she must be loaded. Gaara said his father was a powerful man, probably a really powerful man. The only ones she wasn't really sure about were Shikamaru, Sakura and Tenten. They weren't as important as the Uchiha's and Hyuuga's, certainly. Then by the way they dress and act, this house isn't that impressive to them. Maybe it's just because they've been here before, but she found it a little unsettling. She was lower middle class, maybe middle middle class, but that was the best she could say about her own family's financial standing. She knew that kind of a thing wouldn't bother them. Obviously the scars did that more than money, but she did find curious.

They finally reached the room. It was enormous. And then they found about 15 different closets each with a different kind of clothing. And NONE of it looked Tsunade-sama's age. It was all their age about. Ino was in heaven. Tenten was a little annoyed until she found a closet clad with outdoors and sporting clothes and equipment. They could hardly contain themselves.

They opened the closet for summer wear and racks and racks of swimsuits. They were amazed at the sheer size of it. Hinata went for the sundresses, but everyone else dragged her back to the two piece swimsuits. They made her try on a few until everyone, including Hinata, was happy with it. It was a darkish blue halter top with a bow and a light blue ruffle at the bottom edge. The bottom was the same color as the top with a similar light blue ruffle at the top of it. Hinata also chose a white crochet dress to put on top of it. Tenten was the next to try on bundles of swimsuits to her dismay, but once again they found a magnificent piece of a dark olive-ish green. It was a halter top tankini with short-shorts edged with brown. Sakura picked out a plain white bikini with a single asymmetrical red flower placed on the bottom piece. Ino's swimsuit was also a bikini. It was purple with black trimming and a square rip on the left breast exposing black under it. Sophia's was red. It was a retro kind of a top with a skirted bottom piece.

"Alright!" said Ino. "Let's go." And they set out-out the closet, out the bedroom, out the upstairs and out the house and into the sunshine. They found the boys there by the pool, waiting for them. '_DAMN!,_' was what pretty much everyone was thinking. The girls seeing the boys and the boys seeing the girls. Even though they had just seen each other strip down, it was entirely different now, though no one was quite sure why. (Just so you know what color of trunks the guys were wearing, but I don't need to make a huge paragraph about it. Gaara: red, Naruto: blue with a swirl on it, Sasuke: black with red stitching, Shikamaru: Brown, Neji, tannish white.)

Naruto was the one to break the silence, as usual. "HINATA YOU LOOK HO-" Neji had hit him on the head. "AMAZING!" Naruto corrected himself. They all laughed.

Ino spoke next. "Naruto, where did all of those clothes come from?"

"Oh, my Mom just said it was, "in case of an emergency." I don't really know what that means. There's an identical one filled with guy's clothes, that's where I go to pick out mine."

Sophia was flabbergasted. It seemed a massive waste to have all of those clothes just sitting around without a single girl that age in the house. In fact, Tsunade-sama wasn't even in the house.

There was some more light chatter, and then Ino and Sakura sat down at the edge of the pool, dipping their feet in. Tenten immediately jumped in with a cannonball and challenged everyone to a race. Neji accepted to everyone's relief just so they didn't have to. Naruto and Hinata sat under an umbrella together. Shikamaru started to sleep with his arm over his eyes, shielding him from the sun. Gaara sat down next to Shikamaru and just looked around. The last two, Sophia and Sasuke, dashed to the diving board. Sophia got there first. She stuck her tongue out at him.

She sighed when she stepped onto it. She hadn't been diving in nearly a year. In fact it was diving season right now. She was glad to see Naruto at least had a decent board. She jumped up and down on it, testing the tension. It was brilliant.

"HELLO?"yelled Sasuke, clearly irritated she wasn't going faster.

"Sorry Sasuke." She decided she'd do a forward dive to warm up since she hadn't dived in so long. She dove in and when she swam back up and to the side of the board in order to be out of his way, she heard him scoff, like it wasn't very impressive. She rolled her eyes and pulled herself out of the water. Sasuke got onto the diving board and begin to- "Sasuke don't!" He had jumped with such force back onto the board he was thrown off balance and fell off sideways. Sophia tried not to laugh. She had adjusted the tension so that it would be better suited for her size and weight, which was a lot stiffer than what Sasuke was used to. He splashed up to the surface, spitting mad.

"What happened?!" he demanded.

"I'm sorry Sasuke, but I adjusted the tension of the board."

He was out of the water now. "How?" Once again she explained the nob on the side of the board and how to turn it and everything. "Hn. Well now that I'm not being sabotaged, I can show you something actually impressive." Sophia resisted the impulse to roll her eyes, twice, but decided to play dumb.

"Really? I mean I like jumping off the board, but I don't think I know anything that impressive. Do you think you show me how?" She decided against actively flattering him, that would be too obvious.

"Not all can learn, but I think I'm good enough that you'll manage."(Okay so maybe not this pompous, but you get the point.)

Sasuke did his dives one after another and Sophia watched, trying so hard to keep a straight face. He did a backwards dive, then a forward somersault in the tuck position. And then to Sophia's surprise he actually managed to do a backwards somersault in the tuck position. While he could do the dives, his form was terrible, even worse than hers. He didn't point his toes or land close to the board or land straight or any of those things. His landings looked like they hurt quite a bit, too.

"Do you think you can try the first one?" He asked. It would be a good way to talk to a student if Sophia didn't know that he was enjoying feeling so superior to her.

"Yeah. I think I can try." She got up on the board, adjusted it and did a backwards dive position.

"Good, but I think you have room for improvement." She already knew that, but did he? Really? "Do you think you can try the next one?" She breathed in and out calming her fury, but she knew the tables would turn on him and it would be all worth it. She did a forward somersault in the tuck position. Sasuke's comments were pretty much the same. He didn't actually tell her what to improve on, so he was mostly just aggravating. She then did the backwards somersault in the tuck position.

"You're actually pretty good at this," he said, surprise in his voice.

_'I know,'_ she thought. '_At least compared to you.'_ But all she said was, "Really? Thanks Sasuke." She beamed and decided now was the time. "Hey Sasuke, would you mind it awfully if I tried something?"

He thought, or at least tried to look like he was thinking or at least looked like what he thought thinking was supposed to look like. "Okay, but be careful. You could really get hurt on that board."

'_I know!'_ her thoughts hissed at him. She got up onto the board and wondered if she should pick a different dive since she hadn't practiced in ages. Even if she did screw up, Sasuke wouldn't notice. In fact he was looking in the opposite direction, as Sakura of course. She was so annoyed at the thought being jealous of Sakura even for an instant, just because Sasuke was paying Sakura more attention than herself, even if it was to make him look like a fool. She called out, "Sasuke, do you think you could watch to see if I'm doing it right? I want to make sure my 'teacher' can help me." She ended up doing a backward somersault full twist, not because it was the most difficult dive she could do, but it was certainly the most complicated looking, and if Sasuke got the idea into his head to try it, he would only hurt his ego rather than his head if he potentially tried a reverse.

She really didn't want to screw this up, otherwise the whole sucking up to Sasuke meant that not only would his already overinflated ego get puffed up to bursting point, but she would look like an idiot, clearly trying something too advanced. She thought of all of those silly things her coach taught her about boobs and shelves and Mr. Poley's multifarious affairs and laughed. She jumped backward twisting and spinning until she landed in the water. She popped back up to find she was facing the board. She laughed.

She had probably screwed up quite a few things, but she had made the bulk of the dive and so looked directly at Sasuke who's mouth was open. She smiled and swam over. Once she pulled herself out of the water she said, "What did you think teach?" Sarcasm brimming in every syllable.

"So all of that… That was just to mess with me?"

"If you say it like that, then yeah. Listen, you're not better than _everyone_ at _everything_. Even you should know that."

"Is that the thing I was supposed to learn?"

"You mean from yesterday? No that's not what I meant. It's good that you really do want to change to be with her. But don't you want to better yourself? If you're only changing yourself to please someone else, are you really changing?"

"Is now really the time for philosophical questions?"

"You're the one who made it all philosophical. I was just trying to mess with you right now. But you should go talk to her." He looked at her then at Sakura and back with an actually thoughtful expression. He started walking over to Sakura. "Oh. And try not to be a complete ass." She jumped into the water before he could push her in himself. She swam away, laughing. She swam past Neji and Tenten who were still racing each other, neck and neck and got out next to Gaara.

"Hey!" she said when she sat down.

"Hey. What's up with Sasuke?"

"Oh I just messed with him a bit." Gaara looked at her like 'What did you do?' She explained, and Gaara laughed. She lowered her voice a bit, but she still didn't notice Shikamaru laying down on Gaara's other side. "So I'm a bit paranoid. All the guys saw the scars, but they didn't say anything."

Gaara cut her off before she could continue. "I didn't tell them anything if that's what you're asking."

"No. That's not quite what I meant, but thanks. Do you think I should tell them, because I don't want them coming to any wrong conclusions."

"I don't know, Sophia. I think if they ask, then maybe you should tell them, but I don't really know how you'd broach the subject otherwise."

"Yeah, I guess." She sighed and put her head into her hands. "I just feel so stupid, Gaara. Stupid and embarrassed. I mean what kind of an idiot deliberately mutilates themselves?" She looked up from her hands and turned to his face with a bright red Kanji on his forehead. "Oh. Right." She leaned back against his shoulder, and they just sat there.

"Alright guys! See you Monday!" called Ino as they walked out of Naruto's well mansion.

They went their separate ways once they got to the dorms, so that they could do homework and rest a bit. Sophia answered emails from people back home. Hinata did some extra studying, because it never hurt. Tenten went for a good long run. Ino looked through catalogs and Sakura watched a rom-com. None of them knew the kind of panic that would ensue from one single announcement the next day.

"Everyone should start getting ready for the dance this Friday from 8 to midnight!"

**OOH! Intrigue. Okay so I want to thank everyone that has followed, favorited, or reviewed. THANK YOU SO MUCH. It really makes me actually get up the drive to continue this, because honestly if it wasn't for you I would have given up on this story a long time ago. OKAY. I'm done. **

**~^_^ MorwenKazul**


	16. Pre-Dance Drama

**HEY EVERYBODY! I know, I kind of disappeared for a bit, but this took FOREVER TO WRITE. I got stuck like 15 times and I think I'm happy with parts of it and other parts... ASDFGHJKL:! Okay. SO quick thing. I"M SORRY ABOUT SASUKE! IT'LL GET BETTER SOON! But you'll be pretty happy with the way this ends so. YEAH.**

"What?!" yelled nearly every female member of the student body. Tenten was one of the few that didn't shout out, but even she was surprised and a bit annoyed. She usually got advanced warnings for when Ino would drag her out shopping. None of the boys said anything either, but still, one week to ask a girl out was a lot of pressure.

Well not none of the boys. Naruto made some exclamation, that no one paid much attention to. He asked Hinata to go with him right after first period. Hinata blushed really hard but to her credit she didn't stammer one bit when she gave her reply. They walked arm in arm to Chemistry. Before he started running for his class, he gave her one last glance that positively threw Ino into hysterics.

Why hysterics? Ino _still_ hadn't been asked out. Why would this be a problem, especially since it had only been ONE period? Because Ino was a crazy person and said that she had to dress to match her date. Until she had one she couldn't begin planning her wardrobe for the event.

"Wardrobe?" Sophia asked, taken aback. "Isn't it just one dress? Why are you saying it like it's all you'll be wearing for the next 10 years?"

Sakura sighed like it was going to take a tedious amount of explanation. "Ino here, suffers from the delusion that one must plan a wardrobe for every event in one's life. This might be fine if everything we were doing right now was being choreographed by some puppet master typing out all of our actions on some massive printing press, but I mixed too many metaphors to make a point."

Sophia shook her head, not really getting it. "Okay… What clothes do you need then?"

"Well I need an outfit for the day of to wear to school. Then I need one for getting ready in case he stops by early. Then I need the actual dress and all the accessories to go with it. Which not only has to match him but has to look at least decent when we're taking pictures together. Then I need clothes to change into after. And then I need just in case clothes for all of those. Because what if something spills or rips or matches someone else."

"She's not joking is she?" No one had to answer. They spent the rest of the class discussing idea's and gossip about the dance while Tenten scowled every time someone mentioned shopping.

Sakura wondered whether she should hold out for an invitation from Sasuke or try to move on.

_"So unless you want to keep crying in bathrooms and ripping each other's heads off every time you see the other, maybe you should cut him some slack. And if you can't do that, then get over him. Find someone else if you can't deal with your trust issues."_

The entire next period passed with her thinking about it. Brooding was closer to what she was doing, but it isn't as though she would ever admit it. The choice was a simple one, but she still hadn't made any headway by the time they had gone to lunch. She was sitting at a double table with everyone there, because Naruto and Hinata were together and Ino wanted to talk to "the boys" (Shikamaru) about the dance and what they're plans were. And nobody really felt like making a fuss. So everyone was there to see Lee walk up to Sakura and announce… ask? It was both really. "Sakura, My Cherry Blossom! My Youthful Flower Of Spring! Will You Join Me At The Dance Of Beauty This Friday?! And We Can Celebrate Our Vitality Together!" _Everyone_ in the cafeteria was watching now, straining to hear _exactly_ what Sakura said before bursting into uncontrollable laughter. 'Everyone' was surprised.

"Yes." She had been a bit surprised herself, but she decided Sophia had been right. Everyone had been right. She should get over Sasuke. She smiled. "Rock Lee, I would love to go to the dance with you on Friday." She and Lee talked over the details of picking each other up and so forth, and he walked away punching his fists into the air. Sakura turned herself back to face the table at large. They were all staring, wide-eyed and incredulous.

Ino was the first to speak. "Sakura. I understand you're at an emotional junction at this point, but you could do a lot better than Rock Lee."

"Ino…" started Tenten.

"Why? Rock Lee is anything but _indifferent_," Sakura said pointedly. "I imagine we'll have a pretty lively evening."

Hinata smiled and glanced up at Naruto, imagining the kind of _huge_ stunt he might pull. Yes, lively, was the politest way to put it… "Good for you Sakura."

Sophia had decided to keep herself out of anything and everything to do with Sakura's love life, but a 'good for you' wouldn't hurt. And she said so as did Tenten, and Ino, though grudgingly. Ino was really hoping she could get Sakura and Sasuke to get together as quickly as possible and it this dance would have been such a good opportunity. _'Oh well,'_ she thought.

In the next class, the boys were playing dodgeball while the girls ran relays. Sasuke and Gaara had been knocked out and sat next to each other. Sakuke suddenly burst out. "What a bitch!"

Gaara followed his line of sight to the girls. They were grouped all together, talking about whatever. Gaara guessed. "Who, Sakura?"

"No! Sophia." Gaara looked even more confused at this, but he waited. "I mean you heard her. Lecturing me like I'm some sort of… you know. Telling me that I had a chance if I just worked at it. But nooo Sakura is a precious angel who really needs to be taken away from bad influences like me. She doesn't need to change at ALL. I mean you heard her earlier, telling Sakura how happy she was Sakura was going out with someone else. I mean what a bitch. She tells me one thing and Sakura another. I mean she doesn't give a damn. She just gave her self-righteous little speech and walked out, not really caring what anyone did about it. Not caring how it might all turn out or how anyone might feel. What a bitch to make someone try that hard about something she doesn't give two shits about."

Gaara exhaled. "Don't."

Sasuke almost forgot he was there. "What?"

"Don't talk like you know what's going on in her head."

"Oh and you do? Oh that's right, I forgot you two are all buddy-buddies now. I didn't realize that wanting to get into a girl's pants is justification for siding against your best friend."

Gaara's face flushed. Sasuke wondered whether it was due to anger or embarrassment for only a moment before Gaara started in on him. "Several things are so wrong about what you just said. I do actually know what's going on in her head about this and she has a clearer picture than you do about "what's best." Two, I don't want to "get into her pants." Three, isn't "getting into a girl's pants" what this whole thing is about anyway, you wanting to be with Sakura? And four, if you had been paying attention, you'd have noticed Sophia's your friend too. But you're too busy playing the victim to realize she's trying to help _both_ of you."

"_I'm_ playing the victim, Gaara? Really? Between a girl who has railroad tracks carved into her legs and me, I'm the one who's acting the victim."

"I don't want to punch you, Sasuke, but if you don't shut the hell up about things you don't know anything about, I will."

"Oh so you're defending an emo against your best friend. That's cool."

"You know the fact that you're only bringing up the fact that we're best friends so that I'll side with you, isn't helping you much. So if you'd just calm the fuck down, you'd get that she fucking cares about you, and she gave what she felt was good advice, even if you disagree. She never said you had to follow it. She never said Sakura had to follow whatever she told her either. And believe me when I say she gave Sakura a piece of her mind. _Sakura_ was the one that decided to go out with Lee this Friday. Sophia didn't force her hand."

Sasuke didn't say anything to that. Someone caught a ball and Gaara got back into the game.

* * *

Over the next couple days Sophia had watched nearly a dozen boys pour their hearts out to Ino, Tenten, and even Hinata and Sakura, despite them being taken. It was quite distressing when she finally understood that she had joined the popular group without realizing it. Popular if you defined it as the group that the most people knew and liked. It was a weird feeling. She had always been part of the nerdy group or the theatre group (or the otaku group). It was even weirder when someone asked her out by proxy. She had the feeling that he had come up to ask Hinata and after seeing Naruto and Neji's death glares he had asked her just so he didn't look so stupid. She turned him down nicely enough, but he didn't look that put out to be honest.

A couple others turned up to ask her out, but she turned them down. She knew it was a dance, but she didn't really feel like going with someone just to not be single. Not yet. Tenten turned down all her suitors too, but I think that was just more to annoy Ino than anything else. Ino eventually settled on someone Sophia thought was named Deidara, but she couldn't be sure since every time Ino mentioned him she called him "Dei."

On Wednesday Ino took everyone shopping. It would have been a nightmare if they had gone shopping in Konoha, but when Ino "took someone shopping," she literally took them. They were in first class on a flight to Tokyo before Tenten could say "quadruple homicide."(Yes I know Japan isn't very big so maybe a plane ride is unnecessary and they could have just taken a train, but screw it!) Sophia began wondering how Tokyo was going to be any less busy, but Ino had reserved them time alone in some of the most prestigious shops in the entire city. In the face of the intimidating shop assistants, Sophia suddenly became very conscious of the fact that the sweatshirt she was wearing was about 3 years old and torn-up at the wrists.

Every single piece of clothing in all of the stores they visited was absolutely gorgeous. Sure, it might not have matched everyone's style very well, but it certainly would have matched with someone. Not for a single item could even Ino, with all of her shrewd fashion sense, turn to Sakura and mouth, "ew," which is a lot of what shopping was. It wasn't really just trying on all the good stuff but pointing out all of the disastrously hideous things one saw in a store that was the real joy. So in a sense, this shopping experience was less fun than usual, but then again, Ino had planned it to be business, because for Ino, getting a dress for a dance meant BUSINESS. Ino marched through stores searching through every rack of clothing and meticulously looking for every dress that might have worked for someone. Luckily none of them had to carry any of their potential dresses. Ino had gotten the shop assistants to carry everything she found to the fitting rooms.

Tenten kind of stood off to one side, moving along when Ino told her to, but in general keeping out of the way. She was resigned to put up with it all, knowing that if she just shut up and complied with it, it would be over much faster. So she didn't look for anything like Sakura and Hinata had begun to do, but tried on all the things Ino made her, and decided to end up getting whatever Ino thought to get, just to avoid getting into a troublesome row. _'Wow. I sound like Shikamaru,'_ she thought.

Sophia walked through the racks and started looking through the racks like Sakura and Hinata had done. She found a dress that she felt might look nice on her and pulled it out. An assistant immediately came out to take it. She was about to hand it over when she noticed the price tag. Her heart sank. There was no way she'd be able to afford anything in that store, or probably any of the stores if the price of that one dress was anything to go by. She sighed and gave it to the assistant. There was no harm in trying it on. Sophia would just humor Ino, and then not end up getting anything. She could wear one of the dresses she already had in her closet. It wasn't as though anyone had seen her wear them anywhere.

When it came to trying on the dresses picked out for Sophia, she almost started crying they were so pretty. And there wasn't a flying pig's chance in hell she could afford any of them. After about the third one, Ino cried out saying, "Oh, Sophia we have to get this one! I won't take no for an answer. I don't think we could find anything better in a million years. And if we do, you can wear it to the next dance."

'_Uhhhh,'_ thought Sophia. "Uhm. Ino, I think I'm just going to wear a dress I already own…"

"Nonsense! You can't wear a dress more than once."

"Um yeah, but." She lowered her voice so the shop assistants wouldn't hear. "Listen, Ino. I can't afford this dress. I don't think I could afford any of these dresses…"

Ino wrinkled her brow at this and checked the price tag. She looked at Sophia with a contemplative expression on her face. "Here. I'll buy it for you. There's no way I'm letting this dress go."

"Ino, really. It's fine. I don't want to impose, especially after you flew us out here and everything already. I truly appreciate the gesture but I can't accept."

Ino frowned and made that face again. "Fine. Miss," she called to one of the assistants. "Yes, can you ring one of these up for me? Thank you."

"In this size?"

"Yes. I think we're about the same size, aren't we Sophia?"

"Uh. Ino what are you doing?"

"Well you won't accept it as a gift, so I'm buying it for myself. You're going to borrow it on the night of the dance. That's an order."

Sophia bit her lip to keep from smiling, without much success. "Yes, ma'am!"

The rest of the evening went without incident. Ino bought a dozen other dresses just for herself, and Sophia couldn't imagine when she'd have time to wear them all. Everyone managed to find something incredibly gorgeous to wear and even Tenten couldn't think of a bad word to say about her dress. They laughed the entire plane ride back and collapsed in Ino and Sakura's dorm room.

* * *

Those last few days had gone a bit differently for Gaara. On Monday night, Sasuke came back around 10, stopping only to grab a snack from the fridge and then slam the door to his bedroom behind him. On a normal day Gaara might have asked, "What the hell's your problem?" On a normal day he might have tried to get his roommate to fess up. On a normal day, Gaara might have actually cared what was Sasuke's deal was, but today he couldn't care less. It just added to the growing resentment he started feeling since their argument earlier.

On Tuesday, Gaara watched a parade of guys approach their table to ask out the girls. The fifth or so boy to come up had been looking at Hinata like he wanted to talk to her. Gaara felt Neji tense up beside him and glare at this new guy, who flinched so bad he might have fell over. He looked around the table at all the girls and spotted Sophia. "Um.. would you like to go to the dance with me this Friday?" he stammered out glancing back nervously at Neji. Gaara felt a shift in opinion of this boy shift from a non-entity to the lowest of the low. Gaara leaned forward and took in a breath. He could feel himself actually sigh when he heard Sophia reject him.

He heard as if through water Ino bug Sophia about getting a date. Sophia said she didn't feel like going with someone that she didn't know just so that she wouldn't look pathetic without a date. Gaara hadn't heard a word. During his reverie, he didn't notice Shikamaru note his every move.

Sasuke didn't mention the argument from the previous day nor did he slam his door. But he refused to speak to Gaara unless he had to and even then most of his sentences consisted of 'hn.' Sasuke's bad mood went so far that by Wednesday, even Shikamaru was muttering about how he'd lost it. Here's why. Karin and her group of crazed stalkers stopped by to not so subtly hint that the boy's should ask them out. She actually said, "Gosh, Sasuke, when are you going to stop teasing me and ask me out already?"

Sasuke was just about to tell her to jump off a weather balloon, when he stopped and in a moment of complete insanity said, "It's Karin right? Karin squealed, over the moon that Sasuke actually remembered her name. She nodded vigorously. "How about I pick you u—"

Shikamaru, who realized what Sasuke was going to say about a second before everyone else, shoved him with his elbow. Sasuke shot him a look like, 'what the hell?' But Shikamaru just glared back.

"Well Sasuke, what were you about say?"

Neji stepped in. "He was just going to say that he would pick you up a mask, so that when you ask out the next poor sap, he won't be blinded." Sasuke now looked at Neji in the same way. Neji just glared back. There was no way in hell he was going to be stuck with those girls for the night of the dance.

Karin dropped her mouth open in astonishment. She hissed at Neji, "I wasn't talking to you." She then turned to Sasuke and said sweetly, "Well, Sasu-kun?" This more than anything snapped Sasuke out of it.

"What Neji said. Get lost Kaori."

"It's Karin!" she shouted before stomping off, her friends trailing in her wake. They looked longingly back at the group of boys. Clearly they had hoped for an invite to the dance as well.

That night everyone but Sasuke, who was off brooding (drinking), gathered in Gaara's apartment. "What is his problem? We almost ended up with those girls hanging around us for that whole dance!" yelled Neji.

Shikamaru assumed his 'O' stance. "I imagine that if he had actually succeeded in asking her out, she would have roped him into making us take her friends. Damn troublesome. It would be less of a pain in the ass to go with Ino."

Neji smirked, privately thinking that Shikamaru would very much like to go out with Ino, no matter how much of a "pain in the ass" she might be.

Naruto spoke next. "I don't know how he could even think about going with her. She was so mean to Hinata and the other girls, including _Sakura._ Jesus. What do you think, Gaara?" For Gaara hadn't spoken a word on the subject.

"I don't know guys. It's probably _because_ of Sakura. But if Sasuke's going to be a jackass, then I'm just going to let him from now on."

"What do you mean from now on?" asked Neji.

Gaara sighed and recounted their argument from Monday. There was a sharp intake of breath from the other three boys as Gaara finished his story.

"What an asshat," said anyone really. They were all thinking it.

"So what he's just acting like jerk because Sakura's going to the dance with Lee?" asked Naruto.

"Well it's like Sophia said that night of the sleepover. And he had the nerve to…"

Neji suppressed a smirk at that and said, "Well, there is one thing that I think Sasuke got right."

"What?" asked Naruto.

"That Gaara's got the hots for Sophia, numbskull," said Neji.

Now it was Gaara's turn. "What?"

Shikamaru answered. "Come on, Gaara. You nearly strangled every guy that asked her out to the dance this Friday."

Gaara was tired of everyone saying he had a thing for Sophia. Why couldn't two people just be close friends? "So did you and Neji when anyone tried to ask out Hinata!"

"I'm dating her! And Neji's her cousin. Of course he's going to be protective. Why are you?"

Gaara had nothing to say to this. Shikamaru decided to keep building on the argument. "If you're "just friends" then did you get angry at the guys who asked out Sakura or Tenten or Ino?"

Gaara had to admit that he hadn't really cared who the girls went out with. As long as he didn't have to hear anyone whining about it like Sasuke did.

Naruto picked up on it now. "Yeah. And I mean I know Sasuke is being an ass, but you threatened to punch him after he insulted her."

Gaara would of course admit that he cared about her, certainly, but in that way? He wasn't sure. He'd never liked anyone that way before. No matter how much his friends had teased him about it before, he hadn't really considered whether or not he liked her.

Just then Sasuke stalked in from wherever he had been, in just as bad a mood as ever.

The whole group gave a collective sigh. "I'm going to go, Gaara," said Naruto. Neji and Shikamaru gave their excuses and left too, but not without first giving Gaara significant looks.

It took Gaara a while to fall asleep that night, but eventually he did. In his dreams, he was kissing her. She was running her hands up his back, pulling his shirt up over his head. Soon her own joined his on the floor… Gaara woke up in the morning drenched in sweat.

During math that Thursday morning, Kakashi let them work in pairs as usual. He kept finding his eyes fixating on Sophia's face, her eyes, lips, the small dimples near her eyes that appear when she smiles. Sophia noticed his distraction, but not at all that it was directed at her. "Are you okay?" she asked. "You seem really out of it today."

He looked to her left to avoid looking in her eyes. "Oh. No. I'm fine."

She bit her lip, wanting to press him. "Okay. But you'll tell me if there's anything wrong?" He nodded. But his eyes kept drifting from his work back to her when she wasn't looking.

"Okay. I'll see you in Japanese," she said as she dashed out the door. He had been completely oblivious to the bell signaling the end of class.

'_Okay, Gaara. This is getting stupid. You can't even concentrate in class._

_What am I supposed to do?_

_Well, your first instinct would be to ignore it._

_How can I ignore her?_

_Not ignore her. Just your feelings about her._

_What feelings are those?_

_So you're telling me that you don't want to spend restless nights with her by your side? That you don't want to take her in your arms? Caress her? Kiss her? That you don't want her to kiss you back? _

_No… But what can I do?_

_I can't believe I'm this socially retarded. Why don't you, I don't know, tell her how you feel?_

_But—'_

"Gaara?" asked Naruto. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, you're less aware than Shikamaru," said Neji, pointing to a snoring Shikamaru.

"Just tired," he replied. Neji rolled his eyes.

He actually managed to concentrate on physics for the rest of the period, even if only to keep from thinking. His resolve was almost immediately broken when he saw her walk into Japanese. He found himself daydreaming about them being together. He could feel some sort of animal instinct make a sound down low in his throat like a purr or a growl. Then he began to deflate.

It was animalistic, the urges he felt, he thought. Even now, even now that he had admitted he was attracted to her, he felt a conflict. Even if she did feel something for him too, and it was a big if, he worried that he would hurt her. It wasn't that he thought she was weak. And it wasn't as though he thought he would hurt her on purpose. But he had never really stopped feeling like the monster everyone had told him he was when he was growing up. He had been blamed for his mother's death, for his father's unhappiness. It took him so long just to trust himself to be friends with Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru and Neji. And for the most part he had been able to let go of that anxiety. But in a tiny corner, locked away it told him that he was a cause of misery and suffering in the people that he cared about. And this was different than just friendship. A relationship like the one he wanted would require so much more vulnerability on her part. He wouldn't risk her safety on the chance he wouldn't end up hurting her. There was nothing to it. He'd just ignore it. Ignore every feeling, just to spare her.

And just as he reached this conclusion, the bell rang for lunch. He sighed. Lunch was excruciating. More boys came to ask the girls out, a last ditch attempt to get a date before the dance the next day. Every time he saw someone approach, even if he just went past the table to go get more food, Gaara felt a knot tighten in his stomach.

_'Do you think she'd say yes if I asked her?'_ he wondered to himself.

_'I thought you decided you weren't going to bother.'_

And so his mind continued for the rest of the day, wanting to tell her, then snapping back to 'reality.' It was such a weird feeling for him. He'd never felt an attraction like he did now. When he'd seen girls before he just thought, _"Yep, that's a girl."_ And that had been it. He had always known that he wasn't as socially normal as his friends, but it was still disconcerting when he thought about the newness of his feelings.

It was pretty late that evening, when Sasuke entered their apartment, slamming the door behind him. Gaara had been trying to sleep and though it was his own anxieties that had stopped him from sleeping, it still pissed him off that Sasuke would barge in here and act like such a dick.

So he stormed out of his room and banged on Sasuke's door. "What the hell is your problem?"

Sasuke opened the door so suddenly, Gaara almost fell forward. He didn't speak, but just glared at Gaara, almost daring him to keep yelling.

"You're acting like an insufferable child you know that? Slamming doors and pouting because you didn't get your way for once. Going off on your own for hours and drinking yourself stupid? No fucking wonder Sakura doesn't want to be around you. And you know what else? She's not the only one."

Sasuke just managed to hiss out amid very strong alcoholic vapors, "You done?"

"Yeah, I'm done. I'm done with you." And Gaara stormed out of their apartment, slamming the door.

Before he knew it, he had walked to Sophia's apartment, and begun to knock.

* * *

A knock at the door wakes her up. She stumbles to the door, half-heartedly wrapping her comforter around herself. "God, Ino. I thought we were done with this crap for today. I'll wear the tartan mini tomorrow _with_ leggings." She rubbed her eyes and looked up. Gaara was looking at her, a troubled expression on his face. "Gaara! What's wrong?" she said, gesturing for him to come inside. She sat down with him on the couch, waiting for him to speak, but he didn't. She was about to ask when his eyes flitted from her face to her chest. She realized she was just in a bra and undies and hadn't bothered to cover any of it. "Jesus, I'm sorry Gaara. I'll be right back," and she dashed off, embarrassed as hell. She wasn't the only one.

In just a minute she came back in a fluffy blue sweatshirt and matching sweatpants, carrying two mugs of cocoa, a touch of pink on her cheeks. "Want some?" she offered, and he took it quietly. Her voice, already softened, became even gentler, but more serious as she said looking him dead in the eyes, "You don't have to say anything if you don't want to." With that, she leaned back into his chest sipping her hot chocolate, with a satisfied sigh. She twitched her eyes up, knowing that at her angle, she really couldn't see the expression on his face, but she was so desperately worried. '_Gaara, with that kind of expression, doesn't bode well. Calm down, it's probably just nightmares, the kind Gaara and I have all the time, he just needs a little reality check, to know everything is fine.'_

"Listen, you're probably wondering why I showed up in the middle of the nigh-," he was cut off by her shaking her head. She turned to face him and smiled, "Gaara, we made a promise, that night in the hospital. I wouldn't care if it was the night before a huge test that was first thing in the morning- and you know I'm not a morning person-and I desperately needed to sleep. I'm there for you, even if you just need me to be next to you." She smiled and then squeaked out, "Because you're there for me too, right?" Her eyes were glistening with tears. Gaara watched as she blinked and one fell down her face. Before he could stop himself, he brushed it away with his thumb and simply said, "Always."

Sophia straightened up and shaking her head she got out, "Anyways, sorry, all ears."

Even though he'd come all the way to her, he felt a little uncomfortable telling her about his fight with Sasuke. "Sasuke and I got into a fight. I just wanted a place to crash, so I came here. You know what, no. I should go. I shouldn't have bothered you. I'll just leave. Sorry." And he actually got up.

It Sophia a moment to speak she was so caught off guard. "You're joking right? And where exactly are you supposed to be going?"

He turned around looking sheepish.

"I must be the worst friend ever if you thought I'd even consider letting you leave." He started to protest but she just held up a finger. "Listen. I've told you that it's fine. I really don't mind. In fact, I'm kind of glad that I'm not just relying on you, but that you trust me enough to come over in the middle of the night like this. Anyway, I don't have a roommate, so you can sleep in the other room if you want."

"Thanks." But he didn't look like he felt any less anxious or upset.

"Sit down." He obeyed. "Do you want to do something? Eat or play a video game or something? Just get your mind somewhere else? I've got *insert generic video game here*."

"Okay."

She gave a small smile. "Okay."

He smiled back and took a controller. Sophia mentioned, "So I suck at this game, but I'm pretty sure I remember the controls, so sorry if I make things a little slow. I'm more of a Nintendo girl myself." And then as if she had no pride whatsoever, she shouted, "Itsa me! MAARIO!" Her head sank, before even getting a glance at his expression. "Don't mind me. I'm just weird," she sighed into her controller before getting back to the game. They continued for a while, but she could tell that there was still something weighing on his mind. She bit her lip, not knowing whether she should offer something else or keep playing, but before she could decide, he looked up at her, a smile on his face, his eyes all confused.

She crouched down next to him and asked, "What's up?"

He answered with another question, "Why?"

She blinked. "What do you mean? Why does the earth's rotation take 24 hours? Why do subways inevitably smell like urine? Why do Twinkies never go bad? Or is it what I really think you mean. Why do I feel the way I feel and hurt the way I do? Why does life seem to suck away everything good that it gives you to later taunt it in your face when you try to get respite from the day?" Looking down, defeated, Sophia sighed. "I don't know."

"No. Why is it that I can hang out with such an amazing person? How is it that she opened her door for me in the middle of the night and invited me in to play video games? That's what I don't get. Why are you here for me?"

She smiled again, wider than she had done that whole night. "You are so silly." She ruffled his hair. "I told you less than an hour ago, in the middle of all this crap we call life, we _need_ each other. We _understand_ each other. And you know what else, we can count on each other when we can't count on anyone else, because we know what it's like when someone bails. So stop being stupid and just hit start already."

And then as an added afterthought she leaned over to kiss him on the cheek, but he moved her face slightly to the side where their lips met. Sophia was, at first freaking out. '_Holy crap. Holy Crap. HOLY CRAP! AHHH!_ and then: _Oh my god. It's like I'm melting on his lips. This is so amazing I feel like I'm going to faint._ And then it hit her: _OH MY GOD! This is Gaara! What am I doing? I mean, it's not like I'm complaining or anything, but what if this screws up? If it does it will be so bad. I can't do that to him. We promised to be there for each other.' _But before she got too far ahead of herself Gaara broke away.

She felt disappointed and to be honest a bit surprised. She looked to Gaara to try and figure out what was going on in his mind. But he'd turned his head away from her.

"Gaara?" No response. "Gaara, please look at me." He turned his head back around but he looked down at the floor. She grabbed his head from both sides of his face with her hands and pulled it up so she was looking straight into his eyes. "Hey. What's wrong?" He looked away and she dropped her hands.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that," he said, still not meeting her eyes.

"So… You didn't want to kiss me?"

"No… I did want to kiss you. That isn't it."

"Then what is it?" her voice cracked.

"It's just. I don't know. I really don't know. I am so confused because, well, if I admit it to myself, which I have to do now, I really like you and I have for quite a while, but at the same time you're the greatest friend I think I've ever had. And that promise that we made. I just keep weighing the options in my head, and I'm just so scared I'll hurt you. And then I'll lose you. I don't want to be selfish, but that scares me so much. And I don't want to be presumptuous or anything, but doesn't that scare you too?" He said all of this without meeting her gaze until the very end when he looked up into her eyes. He looked like a little kid, lost and scared. He wasn't sure she understood, but before he could take a breath to keep going she pulled him in for a kiss.

This one didn't last very long because she had something she needed to say. "I know. I'm scared to death, because well, now that I've known you, not knowing you would probably kill me. I'm making you another promise, that whatever happens, wherever this goes, even if it's nowhere. I'm here, with you. And if that means that was that, then so be it. But you know what I want?" He shook his head. "I want to kiss you. I want to hold you and touch you. I want to walk down hallways holding your hand. And I don't think that being afraid is a good enough excuse to miss any of that." She pulled back from the hug to look at him. "Well?"

He nodded. "Okay."

She smiled. "Okay." She gave him a quick peck then rearranged herself in his arms, leaning back into his chest and then grabbed her controller. "You ready to *insert generic video game action/goal*?" And they kept playing. Sophia finally gave a long yawn and curled up like a cat on Gaara's lap, controller still in hand. She glanced half-heartedly at the screen, closed her eyes and pressed her thumb to make the joystick go forward, ending up running into a wall. Gaara paused the game and waited for her to fall asleep before gently pulling the controller from her grip, lifted her up bridal style and placed her on her bed. Deciding she might get cold she pulled a comforter from her closet and draped it over her. Gaara kissed her forehead and left, but not before silencing her phone and un-plugging her alarm clock.

**sooo... PRAISE! APPLAUSE! REVIEWS? PLEASE! It's better than sex! (That's really because I'm not getting any right now, but it's still applicable) Okay. SO Dance is next chapter which you'll all be pretty happy with. There is a poll up on my profile which I would appreciate participation in. Thank you very much. It might be a while before the next chapter is up because I don't really have it fully formed in my head and I have exams coming up so yeah... PLEASE PLEASE PLEAHSE REVIEW! I am literally begging on hands and knees. And thank you to everyone who has reviews or favorited/followed in the past. It means a lot to me. ^_^  
**


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